Undying Love
by BloodOfEden
Summary: Selene and Michael try to help take down Marcus and end the war once and for all. What happens when Michael taps into his ultimate power? Is it to much for him to handle? Will Selene be able to bring him back from the edge?
1. Searching for a purpose

The Vampyres had been tracking Selene and Michael for two days since Viktor's death. Actually, Michael was just following Selene. She was lost and confused at the present situation. Her beloved dark father was dead. at her own hand. But he lied to her. For over two hundred years she had been lied to. She was killing the wrong ones. She was killing the innocent. not the evil. She found herself in the woods that she had intended to end up in. She had to get to the hideout so she and Michael could rest. Michael looked up at the full moon. He was not surprised that he was not changing into his hi-bred self. There was to many questions buzzing around in his head for him to realize that he was now immortal. But mostly he was just worried about Selene. In the short time he'd known her. he'd never seen her so lost. It was like she was searching for purpose.  
  
Finally Selene had found what she was looking for. she turned around and brushed past Michael and moved the dead leaves around on the ground until the hideout door was reveled. As she opened it she looked at Michael. He was just standing there looking at her. " Are you going to get in or not?" she said to him with a certain annoyance in her voice. but it was only to cover up her scared voice. Michael snapped out of his daze and jumped down the hole. Selene came down after him, closing the hatch door on her way. From there she led the way down a tunnel leading to a bedroom. " This is one of our hide outs when the Lykens are on our scent. It should be safe for now. Now get some rest." Selene ordered him. Michael knew he wouldn't get any sleep. " Where do we go from here?" he questioned. " I'm not sure." Selene honestly replied. Even though she was trying to hide up her nervousness in her voice Michael could see her fear in her eyes. " Your scared." he questioned further. " No I am just thinking. Now get some rest" she defended Michael was not really in the mood to argue so he just laid down on the bed with out even bothering to change into the clean clothes Selene had laid out for him. Later on Michael awoke to a start. The visions of Selene's past when she bit him were hard to cope through before but now they were unbearable. He decided he was to awake to go back to sleep. He walked into the tunnel he and Selene had entered in and found her asleep, sitting on the floor. He picked her up and carried her to the bed he had been laying not to long ago and placed her in it. Then Lucian's words flashed in his head. " Lykens were the day time protectors of the vampyres" He decided he would protect Selene, and who knows? Maybe he'd even try to bring some humanity back into her. This was the only way he could think of to show his affection for her. and be useful at the same time. He had a deep affection for the vampyre and wanted her to know that. Selene rolled over in the bed and Michael decided to go protect the entrance. He had to protect Selene and if anything was going to come in. it was going to come in from the entrance. Silently he waited. for something to happen. But nothing came. 


	2. Back to the grave

~demon-in-my-view13~ Before I begin I would like to thank the people that reviewed. Thank you lee tea. your advice was helpful and obviously I have continued ^_^ but Spelling vampyre with a y is just my touch. I prefer it better with a y because in a way it makes it mine. but not really because loads of other people use it too. But thank you anyway =D Thank you Ms. Vaughn and vampiress221 because your reviews were also helpful Now lets continue the story!!! Even I am interested to see how it turns out!!! ^_^  
  
~*~*~  
  
Selene awoke with a start. She had a dream of Michael in his hibred form. He was seduced by his power and was killing people. He was just about to kill her when she woke up. Snapping out of her daze of remembering her dream, she suddenly realized that Michael was not in the room. She jumped out of the bed and ran down the hall where the entrance was. There she found him leaning against the wall. " Something the matter?" he asked " I just didn't know where you were." Selene replied trying to cover up the fact that she was worried about him. " Oh okay. Do you think it is night yet?" he asked, dropping the subject that Selene obviously did not want to talk about. " Why don't you check?" she replied stepping back so that if the sun was up, the ray of its light would not hurt her. Without another word Michael climbed the latter and unlocked the hatch door. They were both relieved when the only light that shone through was moonlight. Michael climbed out the rest of the way and sniffed the air to make sure that there were no vampyres around. When every thing checked out okay he offered a hand to Selene. She instead climbed out on her own and closed the door. She wondered where to go. They could not go to the vampyres because then they would be killed on sight. All of the sudden Selene remembered something that happened during the war of the previous night. " Michael? Do you remember what happened after I killed Viktor?" She asked. " When?" Michael was confused at what Selene was trying to get him to remember. The only thing he could remember about after Viktor's head was sliced in two was that they were standing, and then they left. " Wait. Do mean when all the Lycans that were watching backed off instead of killing us?" he remembered " Yes, exactly. What do you think were to happen if we go to the Lycans for help?" she questioned further. " If we find them.." Michael sighed, " Who knows what happened after we left. There might not be any Lycans left. The vampyres could have tracked them all down by now. And if there are any left they probably have gone far from this city by now." Selene realized the truth to Michael's words " But we have to try Michael" For once Michael saw hope in Selene's eyes. This was something he had never seen in the short time he'd known her, and seeing that emotion in her made him feel that there might have been some hope after all. " All right. lets go if we're gonna go. We don't have to long before the vampyres find us if we are in the open" Michael agreed. Then Selene did something he never thought he'd see her do. She smiled. She showed she had some emotion for him. At seeing this Michael's mood brightened a little, though, he had no idea why. When they were ready they used their speed to arrive in the city. " So where do we start?" Michael questioned. " To the place where we saw them last.. back at the war scene." Selene shuddered because upon saying those words she saw Viktor's head slice in two and fall to the ground. As they arrived they noticed all the dead bodies. It troubled Michael to see his fellow Lycans dead. As they moved on they passed the room where Lucian's lifeless body laid. " Excuse me for a moment Selene" Michael requested. Though he didn't really have much good experiences with Lucian Michael felt bad anyway. Selene just nodded and looked around but did not move from her spot. She wasn't really anxious to go back to the room with Viktor's dead body. As Michael walked over to Lucian he noticed that Lucian was in a different spot than he had been in when he died. Michael knelt down on one knee and thought of Lucian's past. " Michael watch out!!" Michael herd Selene's voice cry and he looked up.. 


	3. Along with the lycans?

~demon-in-my-view~ srry it took so long!!!!!!!  
  
Thank you every one who reviewed. They are very help full considering I'm kind of new to this.  
  
Thank you impulse5- actually I spelled it like that on purpose. Yes I did get my screen name from that book. It's my favorite book from my favorite author^_^  
  
Thank you lee tea- lol ^_^ yes you will find that I do a lot of my chapters with cliffhangers. I like doing them for some random reason^_^ actually the way it came out on fan fiction was not the way I had written it. I will take your suggestion but I'm not sure if it will work.... oh well only one way to find out!!! And yes you will have to wait to find out ^_^  
  
Thank you, Witch Goddess- Well to tell the truth they kind of intimidate me too ^_^, but I will do my best to fix that...  
  
And thank you everyone else who reviewed!!! They really help!!! Okay back to the story!!!!!!! Lol ^_^  
  
~Undieing Love~  
  
Michael looked up quickly as he heard Selene's words. Hovering over him was a large lycan. It just stood there, staring at Michael. Selene quickly drew out her guns.  
  
" No! Stop!" Michael yelled to her.  
  
Selene unsurely held her guns at her sides, but she did not put them away. She was ready to shoot if she needed to.  
  
Michael looked up at the lycan. It was big and bulky. It breathed heavily as if it was just in a battle. It looked to Lucian's body, then to Michael. Then it turned to its human form.  
  
"My name is Raze..." the lycan paused for a moment " you must be Michael... the almighty hybrid" Raze stood up and looked to Lucian again.  
  
" You are the hybrid right?" Raze questioned.  
  
Michael looked to Selene as if to ask her if he should answer Raze. Selene, looking a bit dazed, simply nodded.  
  
" Yes" Michael simply said, looking to Lucian's body  
  
" He's not dead you know..." Raze added  
  
" He isn't?" Michael questioned  
  
" Well look at him, use your sense's, does he smell dead to you?" Raze questioned back.  
  
Michael changed into his hybrid form. He sniffed over Lucian's body. There was defiantly something not right about the way Lucian's body smelled. Not the smell of a dead person that's for sure. Then Michael used his ears and heard light breathes coming out of Lucian.  
  
" No in fact he is very much alive!" Michael said with surprise, looking up at Raze.  
  
Selene dropped one of her guns in surprise. She had saw Kraven shoot Lucian. Then her mind flashed back to that moment...  
  
~ Flashback~  
  
" Bite him!" Lucian cried to Selene who was hovering over Michael's body. Half Vampyre, half Lycan, but stronger than both... Selene took Lucian's orders and slowly sunk her teeth into Michael's neck.  
  
" You may have killed me... c-c- cousin... but my will is done regardless" Lucian whispered in pain as the silver nitrate took effect to his blood.  
  
Those were what Selene thought, Lucian's last words. Then out of pure rage Kraven raised his pistol and pumped Lucian full of more bullets until he lay there, lifelessly. Selene wondered what Kraven would think if he knew Lucian wasn't dead at all. A couple of moments passed before Selene brought herself back to the real world. She must have had been daydreaming for longer than she thought because Lucian was now breathing heavier as Raze gave him a shot and Michael was nowhere to be seen.  
  
Then all of the sudden he returned with his lightning fast speed. He was astounded by this whole thing and went to the front to make sure no one was there. He wondered what was going on in Selene's head. This must have all been kind of new to her. Well duh it was new! Michael kind of picked up some of Selene's worry and he realized how lost she was. He left Lucian's side and stood up. He walked over to her. She just stared at the floor not wanting to make eye contact with him.  
  
He stood in front of her and held out his hand.  
  
" Are you okay?" he asked with softness.  
  
Selene looked up at him. She took his hand with both of hers and stared at it. She ran her fingers over his claws and rubbed his blueish skin. Michael dropped his head down a little to try and make eye contact with her. She returned his gaze for once. Michael took his hand from hers and went around to her back. Then he put his arms around her. She felt the coldness coming from his Vampyre half. Selene didn't really have any idea what she was doing but she was just to let someone else do the thinking for her for once.  
  
" You two can go back to hiding for tonight," Raze suggested  
  
" Okay I think we will" Michael answered back, "where will we meet?"  
  
" Here again,... tomorrow night,... when the moon is at its peak" Raze replied almost primitively.  
  
" Okay, we'll see you then" Michael said coolly  
  
He motioned for Selene to go first but then realized that she did not move. He tried to look at her face and realized she was sleeping. He picked her up and went outside. It was then he realized it was almost sunrise. He ran with his hybrid speed back to their hideout. He placed Selene on the bed and was about to go guard the entrance until he heard her speak.  
  
" Michael?" Selene said almost weakly without lifting her head up.  
  
" Yes?" He replied, walking over to the bed.  
  
" Do you think we will be safe with the lycans?" she asked, whispering. Michael assumed that she must have really been worn out and who could blame her?  
  
" To tell you the truth Selene,... I don't know...." 


	4. Emotions are a bitch

Night had passed and day had come. Michael, still very much awake, was passing around in the entrance room. He had a feeling that this day was going to pass very slowly.  
  
He changed into his hybrid form for no apparent reason. Because of his hybrid speed, Michael could go back to Lucian and check on him, and then be back again in almost 30 seconds. (The extra 29 would be spent checking on Lucian.)  
  
He made up his mind and was about to leave until he heard Selene turn in her bed then put her feet quietly on the ground. In his hybrid form Michael could hear this with ease, but he quickly changed back to human form and picked a random spot by the wall to sit.  
  
Selene came into the room and looked to see Michael on the floor staring back at her.  
  
" Did you have a good rest?" Michael asked innocently.  
  
" Yeah, I guess" Selene replied, in a way that was like she was almost holding something back from him.  
  
" What happened?" Michael asked alerted as he saw Selene flinch at something she was probably remembering from one of her dreams.  
  
" Nothing" She said coming back to reality. She turned and walked toward a hallway but stopped. It took her a couple of seconds to realize Michael was holding onto her arm.  
  
" Selene, we are in this together. You can tell me what is wrong and I will help in anyway I can." Michael said firmly but reassuringly.  
  
Selene felt the warmth coming from his hand but kept her gaze forward. She new Michael could help her and in some part, wanted him to, but she felt like such a weak human lately and wanted to handle this one her own. But she new in the back of her mind she couldn't stop what was coming for her.  
  
" Selene" Michael said firmly. Selene turned around with what looked like a tear in her eye. She looked at Michael. Before he could say anything she pulled her arm and away and went over to a wall. She punched it hard enough for it to dent, (vampyre strength). She turned around and slumped down.  
  
Michael looked at her with her knees up to her chest and her head hung low. She was sobbing a little to. He walked a step closer to see if she had any reaction. When nothing came accept more sobs he walked over to her and kneeled down next to her. He noticed her fist was bleeding. He put his arm around her back. She tilted toward him then let her head fall on his shoulder.  
  
She put her arms lightly around his waist. She wanted the warm feeling he gave her.  
  
Michael put his free arm under her knees and took her to the bedroom. When he was there he placed her down on the bed. Then he sat down on the side of it not really sure how to react. He heard Selene move and he turned to see that she had made space for him. He was actually kind of tired though he did not let it show. He couldn't remember the last time he had slept.  
  
But he took Selene's offer and laid down facing her. He put his arm around her waist. Selene came closer to him. She put her arm over his shoulder and came close to hug him. Michael moved his hand up to her back to hold her close.  
  
They stayed like this for a while. Actually for a long time. They both fell asleep eventually. Michael was the first to wake up.  
  
Slowly but surely he got up off the bed without stirring Selene. He went to the entrance and opened the hatch door as silently as he could. It was nighttime. Knowing this made him sure that Selene would not slumber for long. He went back to the bedroom and stood against the wall.  
  
Michael looked to a stand by the bed and read the green numbers on the clock. They read 11:30. If Selene did not wake up soon then they would be late for meeting Raze. But he did not care. Selene was the most important thing to him at this point. Nothing else came close to the importance of Selene's well being.  
  
Only 15 minutes had passed until Selene's eyes opened. She saw Michael standing next to the wall. She sat up.  
  
" Shall we go?" she asked with certain ease.  
  
" Well I guess... are you okay to go?" Michael wondered, remembering Selene's emotional outrage from earlier.  
  
" Yeah," Selene said with a sigh, " I am fine"  
  
" Okay, so I guess we are going then?" Michael questioned, still wanting to make sure that Selene was okay with all this.  
  
" Yeah, let me just take a shower" Selene said as she got off the bed and headed toward the dresser for a fresh leather suit.  
  
Michael walked toward the reloading room and grabbed two of Selene's favorite guns. Then he noticed different size trench coats hanging on the wall. He remembered from when he changed into a hybrid earlier that his shirt had ripped. Then he remembered that the lycan's always wore coats for that same reason. He took Selene's trench coat and one for him self. Perfect fit, he thought to himself as he put it on.  
  
When Selene came out of the shower she got dressed and noticed her trench coat neatly folded on the bed with her two guns fully loaded and some extra cartridges next to them on top of the coat.  
  
" I thought you might want them" Michael's voice came from behind her.  
  
" Thank you" She said, actually sounding grateful.  
  
Selene turned and saw Michael had a new pair of pants on and a trench coat over his bare skin. His hair also looked wet.  
  
" There was another shower so I decided to take one" Michael said seeing Selene's confused expression and explaining.  
  
" Oh, okay, well, Shall we go?" She asked.  
  
" Yes lets" Michael said turning and starting to walk toward the entrance.  
  
" Michael..." Selene called after him.  
  
" Yes?" He said turning around with his trench coat whipping around him as he did so.  
  
" Thank you, for what happened before. I really appreciate what you did and are willing to do for me." Selene said looking down. " You know you don't have to... protect me I mean."  
  
" You are welcome, and yeah I know, but I want to. How could I not?" Michael said smiling in a sexy way as he turned and walked to the entrance  
  
" Selene smiled as well knowing that she was loved by someone that she wanted to be with. And knowing that Michael was there to catch her when she fell, reassured her that maybe, just maybe there was hope  
  
" C'mon Selene!" Michael called from down the hallway. Selene put her trench coat on and grabbed her guns and their cartridges and started to run after him, for once thinking good thoughts...  
  
Mwuahahahahahahaha. Hehe, somewhat mushy chapter but for all of those who want them to kiss do not fear! Fluffy goodness is on its way! Maybe in chapter 5 or 6 it will happen! I haven't decided yet. Thank you for reading this and remember, reviews are greatly appreciated. TELL ME WHAT YOU WANT TO SEE HAPPEN!!!!! Well got to run, please R&R and I'll talk to you later... 


	5. A trip to the past

~ Demon-in-my-view13 ~  
  
Hello every one!!! This is where I thank people who reviewed so here we go! I AM SORRY TO REPORT THAT THE KISS WILL NOT HAPPEN IN THIS CHAPTER BUT IT IS COMING SOON SO DO NOT WORRY! I have to build up to it you know?  
  
Even in Death5277- Yes I do know that it is fluffy already but soon it will get even fluffier! =D  
  
Mrs. Vaughn- Me neither!!! Hehe... =D  
  
Serindipity9- OH MY GOD I LOVE THAT MOVIE!! ALMOST AS MUCH AS I LOVE UNDERWORLD!!! My Spidey Senses tell me that you are a fan of Kate Beckinsale as well!!! Am I right? =D Don't worry I will explain the whole cousin thing as best to my understanding. But it was what Lucian said in the actual movie so I just said it too. And to everyone the kissing is coming soon!!!  
  
Now back to the show!!  
  
Undieing Love  
  
Selene led Michael back to the graveyard of her and his kind. Back to where they were supposed to meet Raze. They were back to where they had seen Lucian's body only he wasn't there. There was just Raze. He looked up as he saw them arrive into the dark and grim room.  
  
" Hello my lord" Raze said as he got down onto one knee.  
  
Selene looked to Michael who looked kind of confused. Raze's attitude toward Michael had changed a little.  
  
" Umm... hi?" Michael said.  
  
Raze stayed down on his knee and he looked to Michael. Selene realized what Michael was supposed to say but she wanted Michael to realize it on his own. Now that he was hybrid she could not help him with every little thing.  
  
" Uhh... on your feet?" Michael said with question. He was not sure what to say.  
  
With these words Raze got to his feet and looked at Michael with sadness.  
  
" I am sorry to report this sir, but..." Raze hesitated for a moment, wincing at something he had remembered " but... Lucian... has not made it to see this day..." Raze said looking away.  
  
A mixed look of concern, wonder, and confusion crossed Selene's face. Just twenty- four hours ago she saw Lucian as clearly as she could see Michael know, gasping for air.  
  
" What happened?" She blurted out.  
  
" It is a long story, would you like to here it master?" Raze said as he looked to Michael.  
  
" Yes I would" Michael said, trying to get used to his new title.  
  
" Well I guess I should tell you about the past first." Raze said looking into the distance, remembering...  
  
~ Flashback~  
  
Raze had a look of agony go across his face. His best friend Lucian had just bit into his neck. Raze fell to the floor and passed out. When his eyes opened again he was in a dark, dank room. He looked around and he saw Lucian with his back faced to him.  
  
" Welcome my friend" Lucian said without turning around.  
  
" Where am I? What happened?" Raze asked with question.  
  
" You are in my fortress. I bit you. I made you a lycan. You are truly my brother now." Lucian said fiddling with something on the table in front of him.  
  
" A lycan?" Raze said with question.  
  
" Yes. Lycan. It means werewolf." Lucian said finally turning around.  
  
The door to the room burst open and a young vampyre walked in. He had short brown hair that was curly at the bottom.  
  
" They have no idea Lucian. You can live in peace until they figure it out." The vampyre said.  
  
" Good. Okay Kraven, go back to them before they get suspicious of you." Lucian said dismissively  
  
Kraven left without even noticing Raze.  
  
" That was my cousin Kraven. We are the only family to each other. He was found by a vampyre elder named Viktor. I was found by a lycan. We report back to each other every now and then so that we can keep peace between the two clans for as long as we can. Ever since Viktor killed my dear Sonya we lycans have been on the run."  
  
Raze laid back down trying to process everything... " Kraven and Lucian were related but after a while they started to grow apart. Then the vampires found out were the lycans were hiding out. Lucian declared war on them and was winning for a while. Then Viktor came to do the dirty work himself. But Kraven wanted to protect Lucian so he and Lucian pretended that Kraven killed Lucian." Raze said coming back to the present.  
  
Michael looked to the floor. " Go on" He said wanting to hear how Lucian died.  
  
Raze nodded, " After Lucian had disobeyed Kraven, Kraven was filled with such anger so he shot Lucian. That was when you guys came in. Then last night after you left, actually... a while after you guys left Kraven came back to finish the job. I was with Lucian when it happened. He shot Lucian in the heart and since Lucian was already weak he died..."  
  
Michael looked down with rage. Selene stared fiercely at the spot where Lucian was not to long ago. Oh how she wanted Kraven to meet the same fate as Viktor.  
  
" Raze... where are you and... whatever lycans that are left located?" Michael asked.  
  
" I will not speak of it but I can show you" he said. " Go back to your hideout and gather your things, then I will meet you there and we will all go together. You can help us my lord. Surely... uhh no offense to you my lady," Raze said looking to Selene, then back to Michael " Surely you must feel the same hatred to the vampires that we do at this point."  
  
Michael was unsure what to say. He did not want to anger Selene after she had come to trust him, but he did hate Marcus and the others for killing Lucian. Especially Kraven.  
  
" I know I do... in a way" Selene said.  
  
Michael was surprised at her reaction but time was of the essence so he simply nodded in agreement.  
  
" I will follow your scent and find your hideout" Raze said. " I will be there tomorrow right after the sun sets so the lady vampyre can come along." Raze said, taking into consideration that Selene was a vampyre.  
  
" Here name is Selene and we will see you then" Michael said starting to walk away. Selene took one last look at Raze and then followed Michael out.  
  
Later they arrived back at the hideout and Michael opened the hatch and let Selene get in first. He then went in and closed the hatch behind him. As he turned around he almost bumped into Selene.  
  
" Whoa!" He said almost falling backwards.  
  
Selene looked down not wanting to meet his gaze. " What's the matter?" Michael asked.  
  
Selene looked back up and her eyes looked kind of glazed. " Michael... I can't go to the lycans. They'll kill me. After I killed so many of them..."  
  
Michael totally forgot about what Selene would think of his answer. He put his arms around her back. She put her arms around him and berried her face in his chest.  
  
" Selene... you will be fine. If one of them even tries to hurt you I will kill them." Michael said reassuringly.  
  
Selene looked up at him. There gazes connected...  
  
MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! EVIL CLIFFY!!!!!!!!!! FLUFFY GOODNESS COMING SOON TO A THEARTURE NEAR YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HAHAHAHA I LOVE DOING THAT!!! I know this chapter was boring but it was important in a way... QUICK!!! TELL ME WHAT YOU WANT TO SEE HAPPEN BEFORE IT'S TO LATE R&R AND I'LL TALK TO YOU LATER!!!!! MWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!! 


	6. Choose

~ Demon-in-my-view ~  
  
Midnightqueen6- No need to do anything that you'll regret later!!! Lol =D  
  
Iridescent eyes- Oh.... does someone have a certain crush on a certain lycan? Or do you just like that in a man?  
  
Serindipity9- Exactly the reason why I do cliffhangers too!  
  
Now back to the show!!!!!!! For those of you who have been waiting, well, wait a bit longer!!! HAHA  
  
~ Undieing Love ~  
  
Selene held Michaels gaze. She pulled away and went over to a wall.  
  
"You are not always going to be-," Selene broke off thinking of something better to say, "You don't always have to protect me Michael"  
  
"I noticed but as I have said previously, how could I not? I owe you Selene. You've saved my life already more times than I can count." Michael wanted to say more but could not find the words. Finally finding them he continued. "Plus, well..." He paused "I love you"  
  
Selene was some-what in shock from his remark. Quickly she found something to say. "Well I kinda got that feeling" Selene said looking down. Did she love him? What was love? She had forgotten how to love about 200 years ago.  
  
Michael continued, "Besides, I am always here for you even if you want me to be or not. Do you know why I followed you out of that hell when Viktor was dead?  
  
"No, not really" Selene said, remembering the two slices of Viktor's head fall into the murky water.  
  
"3 reasons." Michael started "Number one because you are the only one I have left, Number two because I couldn't imagine being without you, and number three because, well, because I love you. I don't expect you to say it back because I am pretty sure that you don't even know what it means to love any more."  
  
Selene kept her gaze on the floor. "What do you want me to say to that?" She said, finally looking up.  
  
"You don't have to say anything. Just except the fact that I am staying with you on my own. I am a hybrid now. I can take care of myself and protect you at the same time."  
  
Selene held his gaze for a couple of seconds longer. She didn't want to argue with him anymore. She just wanted to rest. She headed down the hallway that lead to the bedroom. But not before looking Michael straight in the eye and saying, "Fine" She didn't mean it in a bad way; she just wanted him to know that she did not want to argue.  
  
Michael was kind of in a daze as he saw Selene walk away. She had agreed to his speech in her own way. He knew she hated to lose so he felt now would not be the best time to go with her to the bedroom. Instead he grabbed a chair and sat in it in the main room.  
  
Selene took a long shower after her mini- fight with Michael. She didn't like to argue with him and that was why she gave up so easily before. "Great, now I am getting a soft spot for him" she thought to herself. Her mind automatically went back to when they were arguing before and he said 'how could I not?' How could I not have a soft spot for him? She wondered.  
  
The next morning Selene woke up to find it was just she in the bed. Normally Michael would have joined her. She started to panic as she looked around the room. But he was nowhere to be found. She got out of the bed and went to the last place she saw him, The Main Room.  
  
As she entered The Main Room Michael was nowhere to be seen. But his scent was strong. She followed it and found herself in The Artillery Room. There she saw Michael putting a round of Ultra- Violet bullets in one of her guns.  
  
"What are you doing in here?" she asked.  
  
"Being bored" Michael replied with out much enthusiasm.  
  
"Bored?" Selene replied, a bit confused.  
  
"Yeah. I was up all night in The Main Hall. A couple of hours ago I went to check the time by looking outside. The sun was just rising. After another half- an- hour I was really bored so I gave myself a tour. I found this room so I went and got your guns and decided to load them. Then you came and we started having this conversation." Michael said looking up at her with a smile.  
  
"Why are you putting those bullets in my guns?" she asked, looking at the gun Michael had in his hand.  
  
"Well I figured you were coming with me until about five minutes ago when I decided that since you had a night to sleep on it that you might have changed your mind. So I thought that if I asked you then you would not be sure. Am I right?" Michael said looking to the floor.  
  
"Yeah pretty much" Selene said looking down as well.  
  
"Yeah, I figured that, so that's why I came up with an idea for you to choose. And whichever one you choose is the one you and I will go with." Michael said looking up again, but not at her.  
  
"What's your idea?" she said looking at him.  
  
"Well both your guns are identical. I put a round of Ultra- Violet bullets in one, for killing vampyres. That would mean that we side with the lycans. Then I filled the other with Silver- Nitrate bullets. I am going to switch the guns around behind my back. If you choose the one with the Ultra Violet bullets then we are going with the lycans. If you choose the one with the Silver Nitrate bullets then we are going to stay on the run. Sound fair enough to you?" Michael said, finally making eye contact with her.  
  
"Yes" Selene simply said.  
  
She sat down on a chair that was in the room. Michael held the guns behind his back and switched them back and forth until even he forgot which one was which. He held them out in front of Selene.  
  
Selene thought for a couple minutes. If she chose the wrong gun then she could quite possibly get her and Michael killed. After taking a deep breath she made her decision.  
  
"The right one" She said.  
  
Michael put the left one on the table and ejected the round. His hand was covering the back of it so Selene could not see which one.  
  
"Okay" Michael said with a sigh...  
  
HAHAHAHAHA. I LOVE BEING EVIL!!! IF YOU GUYS HAVE ANY PREFERANCES AS TO WHICH ONE YOU WANT IT TO BE TELL ME BEFORE IT IS TO LATE!!! AND I DO HAVE TO SAY THAT DEPENDING ON WHICH ROUND THEY PICK DEPENDS ON IF THEY KISS OR NOT, BUT I AM GOING TO BE EVIL AND NOT TELL YOU WHICH ROUND IT IS!!! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I also want to add that I have been a little blind- sighted lately. PLEASE PLEASE TELL ME WHAT YOU WANT TO SEE HAPPEN!!! READ AND REVIEW AND YOUR DECISIONS MATTER!!!!! 


	7. Welcome home?

~ Demon-in-my-view13 ~  
  
Serendipity9- Well I am sorry but most people chose the opposite of what you chose and majority rules. But don't worry, the will bond just as much! ;)  
  
Lady K2- Yes my cliffhangers do tend to drive people mad but don't do anything that you'll regret later! =D  
  
SoT 'n' Kenshin- I am glad you like my story and the reason mine is like 'The Battle Of The Hybrids' (by punk- death- dealer) is because that is where I get my inspiration. SO IF YOU ALL LIKE MY STORY THEN READ THAT ONE! Yes.  
  
Shyann- Personally I agree. That was what I had planned but I just wanted to see if my readers preferred something different.  
  
And thank you to everyone else who reviewed! They mean a lot to me! Okay on to the story!  
  
~ Undieing Love ~  
  
Selene looked to Michael. About a minute had passed since he had said " Okay".  
  
"Well?" Selene said. She didn't really care which side they went with as long as they for once would know what they were doing.  
  
Michael lowered the gun magnet so that Selene could see her choice. As he did so Selene could see the glow of the Ultra- Violet rays on Michaels palm.  
  
"So we go with the lycans?" Selene said, making sure.  
  
"Yep" Michael said looking at the U.V. rays coming from the bullets.  
  
"Well I guess I only need to stalk my gun with one kind of bullet from now on right?" Selene said in a sort of sarcastic way while looking to Michael.  
  
"Selene if you don't want to side with them then we don't have to. I'd understand completely." Michael said finally making eye contact with her.  
  
"It sounds like I am not the one backing out. Are you then one having second thoughts?" Selene questioned.  
  
"No. I mean, don't take this the wrong way but I could care less. I just want to make sure you are alright with all of this." Michael replied breaking eye contact with her and looking away.  
  
"Well I am fine with it as long as none of them try to kill me." Selene said in a sort of good tone. She was actually not scared of the fact that the lycans could break her in half very easily as she had been previously.  
  
Michael, somewhat surprised by Selene's uncalled-for tone brightened up himself. All of the sudden it dawned on him...  
  
"Shit, what time is it?" He asked not expecting an answer.  
  
"Well judging by the fact that I woke up about an hour ago I'd say... mid- morning?" Selene said, giving him one anyway.  
  
"Oh good" he said, relieved. It was obvious to Selene that Michael had completely lost track of time.  
  
"Can I ask you a really random question?" Michael asked her. He was taking advantage of the fact that Selene was actually in a good mood.  
  
"Shoot" Selene replied.  
  
"Have you ever wondered if when a clock stops, time stops too? And if not, then what do we need clocks for?"  
  
"For insecure people and people suffering from paranoia. Who else?" Selene said almost with humor.  
  
Michael laughed for the first time, in a long time. He couldn't believe that Selene had actually just joked with him.  
  
~ Later on that evening~  
  
"I her someone coming!" Michael told Selene. They were both sitting in the main room.  
  
"Is it Raze?" Selene asked.  
  
"It's deffinatly a lycan. Why would Raze come as a lycan?" Michael warily questioned.  
  
Selene simply shrugged. She started up the later only to be stopped by Michael.  
  
"Let me. If something goes wrong I can protect you. I know you don't like it but I won't be as easily shot down as you." Michael said reassuringly.  
  
Selene felt in no way reassured. She knew Michael didn't want her to get hurt but if something happened to Michael then she would be hurt, in her heart at least.  
  
Michael opened up the hatch door to see a big black lycan heading toward the entrance. The lycan, seeing, smelling, and hearing Michael growled something that Michael could only make out as, 'It's me'. Michael assumed it was Raze.  
  
"Raze?" Michael asked.  
  
The lycan only nodded.  
  
"Hold on one minute while Selene and I get our supplies." Michael said.  
  
Raze growled and nodded his head.  
  
Michael went back down to his beloved Selene. She was bringing out a black bag that had pistols and ammo in it. Lots of ammo. She also had brought out a bag of her clothes and some other necessities.  
  
There was also a bag of Michael's clothes, which now consisted of leather as well as Selene's. He had slightly more space in his bag so he brought along a couple extra trench coats for him and Selene, just incase...  
  
As Michael and Selene came out Raze (still in his lycan form) eyed the bags. Four in all.  
  
Michael seeing Raze's some-what of state of confusion said smoothly, "It's better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it!"  
  
Selene smiled a little bit.  
  
"Raze, why are you in your lycan form?" She questioned  
  
Raze made a series of growls that made no sense to Selene. Michael on the other hand (being half lycan as you know) understood them perfectly.  
  
"He says that he is in his lycan form because it is easier to travel, and for protection." he told Selene.  
  
They traveled for a while, but they finally made it to the new lycan hideout. Raze made a few more growls. Selene looked to Michael for a translation.  
  
"He says..." Michael hesitated. "He says welcome home..."  
  
~ Demon-in-my-view13 ~ I love doing cliffhangers!!! PLEASE R&R!!! 


	8. Aubrey

~ Demon-in-my-view13 ~  
  
Serindipity9- Yes that is another reason why I do cliffy's! I don't watch alias because I have no time to watch anything but a couple of shows! Sux don't it? I know they are coming out with a second Underworld. I even have some info on it but I will be mean and not tell you! You'll have to ask! AND I AM PERFECTLY OKAY WITH HYPERNESS!!! =D  
  
Warior- I actually try to end all my chapters with a cliffy. They make life more interesting!! =D  
  
And thank you everyone else who reviewed. They mean a lot to me! Now onward!!!  
  
~ Undieing Love ~  
  
Selene looked to Michael again. The building was old and all the windows were boarded up. This looked like anything but home.  
  
Raze, still in lycan form looked in all directions around him. Seeing that the cost was clear he turned into his human form.  
  
"Actually this is just the entrance. The actual hideout is down below the ground." Raze said to Selene.  
  
"You sure the vampyres don't know of this place?" Michael asked Raze, acting like a leader already.  
  
"Not even Kraven" Raze said, anger and hate rising in his voice as soon as Kraven's voice was mentioned.  
  
"Good. Well, we better move in or a vampyre will catch us." Michael said moving forward. Suddenly he looked to Selene, stopping dead in his tracks.  
  
Selene simply nodded and followed him in. Raze pulled up the rear making sure to seal the door behind them. The scent of lycan was strong. Selene found herself wandering close to Michael.  
  
Raze walked over to a little hatch door made of pure steel on the floor. As he did so voices from below rose up. Raze motioned Michael to go first. He did so and Selene followed closely.  
  
As the concrete stairs came to an end Michael found himself in what appeared to be a common room. Some lycans were sitting around in human form. Others preferred the lupine form. Even little children lycans were running around.  
  
All conversations and activities stopped as Michael walked in followed by Selene then Raze.  
  
Raze stepped forward, "This is Michael, the hybrid. And this," Raze paused motioning to Selene who was partially behind Michael "This is the lady vampyre, Selene. You all will show BOTH of them respect,"  
  
Selene noticed that Raze specifically stressed the word 'both'. She looked around and saw the lycans. Almost all looked at Michael with the utter most respect. Some glanced at her with interesting or curious looks, others with looks of hate. She couldn't blame them.  
  
Raze paused a moment and looked to a certain lycan in it's lycan form in a shadowy corner. He had his eyes on Michael. It was pure black except for its piercing cobalt eyes. It looked bigger and stronger than the rest of them. It was very muscular. Possibly the strongest lycan known to the Underworld.  
  
"As I was saying, BOTH of them will be treated with your utter most respect or-," Raze was cut off by the lycan in the corner.  
  
"Or else you will have to answer to me!" the lycan said standing up. The crowd, just noticing that he was present in the room, all tensed up. Michael assumed this was a lycan of some importance.  
  
The lycan came over to Michael and held out a paw. Michael was not sure what this meant. The lycan morphed into its human form. It was a tall muscular man with black spiked hair. He had ice blue eyes.  
  
"Hello Michael" he said in a cool voice.  
  
"Umm... hi?" Michael was confused. The way this stranger said his name was almost like the way Lucian said it when Michael first saw him in the elevator about a week ago. He couldn't believe all of this had happened since then.  
  
"My name's Aubrey," the man said "and I run what is left of this pack"  
  
"Oh, hi." Michael repeated.  
  
Selene looked at Aubrey. She remembered hearing tales of him. Supposedly he had a big part to play with lycan history. Death Dealers often referred to him as ' The Mistake'. But before she could remember the stories she had been told of him, he looked to her.  
  
"And this must be the infamous Selene. The menace to our kind." Aubrey said with a smirk.  
  
Michael felt a sudden rage building up inside him. "Don't you dare speak to her that way!"  
  
Aubrey started to smile. "Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you. But you didn't let me finish. I was going to say, the menace to our kind, but now she shall surely help us."  
  
Michael felt stupid for lashing out like he just did.  
  
Aubrey turned from Michael and looked to the crowd. "As Raze said, ALL of you will treat BOTH of our guests with as much respect as you would give to me. Now, go back to your business while our new guests get comfortable."  
  
The crowd around them dissipated as they all went back to doing what ever they were doing before. Aubrey turned back to Michael and Selene. Raze had left them to go tend to his business as well.  
  
Aubrey looked to Selene. "I am sorry for my choice of words. Hopefully we can forget that?"  
  
"Sure." was all that escaped Selene's mouth.  
  
"Great. And I hope I can redeem myself to you, Boss" Aubrey said giving a slight bow.  
  
"We'll see" Michael said getting used to being referred to as a being of the higher class.  
  
"Fair enough. Well, shall I show you to your rooms?" Aubrey asked.  
  
Michael nodded. Aubrey turned his back and started to walk. Michael and Selene picked up their bags and followed him through the grim hallways of their new home...  
  
~ Demon-in-my-view13 ~  
  
Fast chapter. New character! What do you all think of him so far? R&R and I'll catch you later! 


	9. We've got a serious problem

~ Demon- in-my-view13 ~  
  
Yingyangqueen- Well thanx! I think... lol. Thank you for your compliments and yes, I do love cliffhangers. I think they are what keep people coming back to read the story. I think a lot of other people would have gotten mad too but it's not my fault! It's my moms! lol!! =D  
  
Warior- Did I copy Aubrey? No. I got his name from the same book I got my screen name. But I made his actual physical being up. Unless I copied him without knowing it...  
  
Midnightqueen- Don't worry, there will be a lot of Aubrey in the future! Possibly around Selene, I'm not sure yet...Yes Michael does strike me as the protective type. And I will try my best to keep up the good work!  
  
SoT 'n' Kenshin- Yes I am sorry but my chapters usually are on the short side. Yeah you probably are on the whiny side! Lol! Well I am glad you like Aubrey and as you can see I am updating as fast as I can!  
  
Thank you every one else who reviewed! Now back to the show!  
  
~ Undieing Love ~  
  
Selene followed silently. She was not sure how she felt about what Aubrey said before. Where was he taking them? They had already gone through a maze of dark, and damp hallways.  
  
"Almost there," Aubrey said as if he had sensed Selene's thoughts.  
  
Aubrey quickened his pace slightly as he got closer to the room where Michael and Selene were to be living in. As he finally closed in on the door he stopped.  
  
"Well there it is. Michael do you remember the way back to the lounge room?" Aubrey asked.  
  
"Yeah I think so" Michael replied.  
  
"Good. Once you get settled in come and see me there." Aubrey said as he started to turn and walk away.  
  
Michael looked to Selene who was watching Aubrey leave. Then he turned his attention to the door. He reached his hand out to the doorknob. He turned it and pushed the door open. The room was dark.  
  
Michael went in first. He looked for a light switch on the wall by the door. Finally finding it he switched it and dim lights came on. Though it didn't really matter to Michael or Selene. Selene walked in after Michael. She looked around.  
  
She saw a mahogany desk and chair with a glazed finish. There was a king size bed with black sheets and a black comforter. There was a door opened half way. It was open enough for Selene to see a mirror and other objects, so Selene guessed it was a bathroom. Then there was another door witch was closed but she guessed it was a closet.  
  
Selene must have been staring at the room for longer than she thought because Michael had moved all of their stuff already and was unpacking the clothes into a dresser, which was the same wood as the desk. It had a fancy glaze finish as well.  
  
"Well what do you think?" Michael asked Selene.  
  
"It's very nice." Selene replied.  
  
"Yeah... Uhh why don't you get settled in here while I go see what Aubrey wanted me for, unless you want to come?" Michael suggested.  
  
Selene looked around the room. She walked over to the dresser and put her back of clothes down. Then she went over to the room that she thought was a closet and opened the door only to find out that she was correct. She placed the bag full of the guns and ammunition in it. Finally she walked toward Michael.  
  
"Well I'm settled in!" She said almost sarcastically.  
  
All Michael could do was smile in return.  
  
"Well what are you waiting for? Let's go!" she said heading toward the door.  
  
Michael felt foolish to think that Selene was that scared of the lycans to not want to go and get a tour. He wasn't even sure if Selene was still scared.  
  
Selene let Michael go first down the hallway. She didn't remember where the hell the common room was. Michael went in front of her and used his nose to detect Aubrey.  
  
"There are to many lycans in this place! I don't know Aubrey's specific scent!" Michael said.  
  
"Do you know Raze's?" Selene asked.  
  
Michael and Selene had been traveling with Raze for a long time so Michael should have known Raze's sent by now.  
  
"How will that help?" Michael asked.  
  
"Well if Raze isn't with the head lycans then where ever we find him he could probably tell us where to find Aubrey." Selene suggested. Michael sniffed the air again.  
  
"I think he's this way," Michael said pointing down another hallway.  
  
Michael started heading down the hallway just to soon find out that it was a dead end. There were a couple doors on the right or left but one right in the center of the wall of the ended hallway.  
  
"This one" Michael said pointing toward the door in the center of the wall.  
  
Michael walked over to it and knocked three times.  
  
"Come in," Raze's voice said.  
  
Michael held the door open for Selene. As she stepped in Selene saw what looked like an emergency room. There were antibiotics everywhere and tools much like the ones at Xiotech Industries, in the room where Selene had left Michael. The tools for pulling out bullets. Raze was sitting at a desk going through some papers.  
  
"Hello Michael and Selene." He said, not looking up from his papers.  
  
"Hi Raze," Selene said before Michael.  
  
This surprised Raze enough to make him look up from his papers. 'Selene answering before Michael?' he thought ' Now I didn't see that one coming until months from now.'  
  
"Hello Selene." He said.  
  
"Uhh, Raze we were wondering if you could tell us where the common room is." Michael asked.  
  
Raze looked puzzled for a moment. ' The common room? Why would they go to the common room?' Then the answer hit him. ' Aubrey'.  
  
"Sure. Go back down this hallway and make a right. Then you'll come to a four way crossing. Keep on going straight and you'll hit it." Raze replied.  
  
"Okay thanks." Michael said turning toward the door. But before he could open it, the door burst open.  
  
Michael jumped back a little, but then he realized it was Aubrey.  
  
"We've got a serious problem!" Aubrey said to everyone, with a tiny hint of worry on his face... 


	10. How does a lycan pack run?

~ Demon-in-my-view13 ~

Lady K2- Yes I know they are. Yeah well I try, no one will want to read about a character that they can't relate to in some way. That's how I see it… kind of. And you will be seeing a big change I her attitude soon. Weather that is for better or worse, well, you'll have to decide…

Midnightqueen6- Thank you! All my chapters are all about the same length… aren't they? Well I'll try to write more anyway…

Serindipity9- You're going to have to find out on your own cuz I'm that mean! Lol. Well Raze looks exactly like he does in the movie and Aubrey… well…. Have you ever read Amelia Atwater Rhodes's Demon in my view? If so he looks like that Aubrey only a few years older.

Warior- You'll just have to find out on your own.

Morrgaine- You're right! I DO KNOW I'M EVIL!!!! AND PROUD OF IT!! LOL. I love ending chapters with cliffys. They're so fun! When I use them I can piss of people like you in a good way! Don't take that the wrong way. I know. I was reading some other stories and in almost all of them that had this structure, Selene was almost always afraid of the lycans. I wanted change!

Jerrylee- ^_^

Rayefire- lol! Yes she is becoming and American isn't she? Oh well!! We will soon see a drastic change in her anyway!

Now back to the show!!!! OH OH!!! Everyone remember that Michael, Selene, Raze, Aubrey and the rest of the lycans don't know that Marcus has awakened yet! They just kinda figure he will be awakened!

Undying Love

Everyone in the room looked to Aubrey.

" Well?" Raze questioned after a long period of silence.

" I'm pausing for dramatic effect." Aubrey said.

" No time for that! Tell us!" Michael yelled.

" Well some of our boys were out hunting and they say…" Aubrey started.

" What?" Selene saw herself saying.

" …they say that they smelled the scent of an… elder." Aubrey finally finished.

" What!" Raze yelled as more of a statement than a question. " Marcus?" Raze found himself looking to Selene.

Selene looked to him, astonished. She knew the coven would try to awaken Marcus as soon as possible. But not this fast.

" So what do we do?" Michael asked. He was indeed the leader of the lycans but just two weeks ago he was just a normal hospital intern. So he was kinda new at this.

" Wait I'm not done yet." Aubrey said as he looked to the floor then back up. Raze nodded and Aubrey continued. " The five of us that said that said they smelled the elder, who were all in the same group… well…"

" Well what?!" Michael was growing impatient.

" Only two came back." Aubrey said as he looked to the floor.

Raze took a heavy sigh of sorrow. It seemed to him that the lycans population was decreasing everyday. But there was something more… When he looked back up he had a small tear in his eye.

" And what of Rafe?" Raze asked Aubrey.

" He's okay… just unconscious at the moment. He had a good chunk taken out of him but no organs that he needed were lost. He had a nice scar by his stomach and a huge cut on his head and chest." Aubrey replied.

" But he will live?" Raze hoped.

" Yes." Aubrey said with a small smile coming to his face.

Raze let out a huge sigh. To everyone in the room it was obvious that he was relieved this one lycans had lived.

" Who's Rafe?" Michael questioned.

" My brother." Raze simply said, " We are very close, but he… he's never really bothered to train. He was always very skilled but he could have been alpha if only he bothered to train."

" That's when me, the underdog of the pack came in and took his place in the higher ranks of the pack." Aubrey added.

" How?" Selene asked. She was interested to know what the coven had been trying to figure out for the longest time, how did a lycans pack work? Many back at the mansion, Ordoghaz, believed that the main lycans pack, and all lycans packs, had no function, no order. It was all just chaos. But Selene always thought that the lycans packs had to have some kind of order and rank, or else no lycans like Lucian would have been able to come to power.

" Well much like a regular mortal society there are three classes. The lowest, middle, and higher." Aubrey started, " I was originally in the lower class. Last to get food, basically the poor people. Then the middle class which are the regular people of society. Usually most of the hunters are in the middle class. Then the higher class. This consists of the alpha and his mate, the alpha's protectors, and close friends." Aubrey said with a sigh.

" Then how do you know who's in what class?" Selene questioned.

" Ah! Now here comes the confusing part!" Raze said continuing the work he was doing.

" Well, say you wanna join the pack and you're scrawny and thin. Then, if the pack accepts you, you are in the lower class. If you wanna join and you are nicely toned for a lycans and in good health then you join the middle class. Now, if you were born a lycans by the alpha female then you are automatically in the upper class. And there are a hole bunch of exceptions to these facts but I don't really have time to get into detail with this…" Aubrey stopped short realizing he was already in detail. He sighed.

" Out of breath?" Raze asked.

" Now, now Raze. Respect your elders!" Aubrey glared at Raze.

" I hate it when you pull that on me!" Raze said looking up. " Anyway… what are we going to do about Marcus?"

" Uhh…" Aubrey paused, " Well I don't really want to say this but that is Michael's decision. He is, after all, our new leader…" Aubrey looked to Michael, not really wanting to relinquish his duty.

" Tell ya what," Michael began, " Since I have no clue as to what exactly is going on, how bout I have all the power but we share duty." Michael suggested realizing what he had just said didn't really make any sense.

" Well I don't really understand what you just said but lets play it buy year…" Aubrey said.

" Fine with me." Michael said.

" So what now?" Michael asked.

" Well,… uh, Raze!" Aubrey shouted.

Raze looked up immediately at the mention of his name but didn't say anything.

" What time is it?" Aubrey asked.

Raze rolled his eyes then sighed and looked at the digital clock on his desk. Then looked back down and muttered the time.

" Five- thirty." He mumbled.

" Well, Michael, in about an hour it's time to go hunting." Aubrey said excitedly.

" Wow, great fun." Michael said.

All of the sudden there was a huge crash that came from the common room…

~ Demon-in-my-view ~

HA! I'm evil and proud! Just to let you all know Ordoghaz is the actual name of the vampyre mansion in the movie… I got it from the book. There was something else that I wanted to say…… OH YEAH!! Sorry about all the boring history but it's kind of relevant to the rest of the story. Got to go write a chapter for my other 2 stories! 


	11. Leadership

Demon-in-my-view13  
  
I AM SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO SORRY I HAVN'T BEEN WRITING!!!!!!!! I had some... well lets just say I've been having some problems with my friends and now with the exception of like, 6 people, they all hate me. I'm still working on the crisis but I am going to try and keep writing. Okay....  
  
Serendipity9- Thank you and yes I am mean. Aren't my cliffy's fun? Yes that would be funny and might I say you are a good guesser...  
  
Warior- Thank you.  
  
Morrgaine- Yes I get that a lot. Really? I don't seem very humorous? Well I'm not usually (not when I write at least) but I do try sometimes. Thank you.  
  
SoT'n'Kenshin- Well I don't really update that fast as you can obviously see. I am sorry to disappoint you but my writing will become a little slow, but now that it is summer maybe I can change that, you see, I have the files for my stories saved on the same laptop computer that my mom takes with her to work. So it's kind of slow... but I will try my best to update every weekend even with my crisis...  
  
Kiwi- Yes my cliffy's do tend to do that...(not that any of us did) That's cool, I'm sure it's a good story. Contractions are easier but they don't sound as formal, I mean they would work for Michael cause you know, he's American. But not so much for Selene cause she is very formal. Get it? Yes don't we all want to kill Kraven? (Sorry Kraven lovers but I don't really like him.) Lol.  
  
Well that's everyone and again I am very sorry I didn't continue for so long. Here is my new chapter...  
  
Undieing Love  
  
Everyone in the room looked roughly in the direction of the source of the crash. Aubrey was the first one to react and he flew (not literally) past Michael and Selene. Michael followed him and eventually so did Selene and Raze.  
  
"Be prepared guys! We could possibly be facing an attack from the vampyres!" Aubrey called from ahead.  
  
Michael braced himself for his second fight with a vampyre. Before Michael knew what was happening to him he felt himself get slightly taller. His fangs grew and so did his claws.  
  
Selene saw from behind that Michael was changing. Then she realized that Aubrey and Raze had both shed their human flesh as well and were now in their lycan forms. She felt somewhat out of place not having a form to change into. But she just kept on running as fast as she could which was pretty fast.  
  
Michael, with his hybrid speed, beat Aubrey and Raze to the common room but not by much. He realized that they were unusually fast as lycans go. Aubrey, Raze, and Selene showed up a couple seconds after.  
  
They all looked around for the source of the crash. But the only vampyre in the room that Michael could see was Selene. He saw no point of forced entry but he did see a group of lycans in a circle, but he could not see what they were looking at.  
  
Michael walked over. He looked back to Aubrey who simply nodded his head. Then Michael turned back around to face the group and moved some of his fellows aside. The lycans being moved, seeing Michael for the first time in his hybrid form, moved away willingly.  
  
Michael saw what was going on. A fight had broken out between two lycans. They were in their lupine form and clawing at each other, seeming to not notice Michael. The source of the crash, Michael saw, was a table, now in pieces. The fighting lycans had probably rammed into it and broke it. All of the sudden Michael got a flash from what looked like Lucian's past as apposed to Selene's.  
  
Memory  
  
Lucian walked in the dank room to see two lycans brawling. He sighed and took out his shotgun. He pointed it upwards and fired it into the air. At the noise everything and everyone stopped, even the two lycans that were fighting. As Lucian walked forward, his people made a path for him. The two that were fighting had stopped and now looked at him, heaving heavily as they changed back to human form.  
  
"You're acting like a pack of rabid dogs!" he paused and looked around, scowling at the two that had been fighting each other, then continued. "And that, gentlemen, simply will not do. Not if you expect to defeat the vampyres on their own ground. Not if you suspect to survive at war..."  
  
Michael pulled himself out of the memory. The two brawling lycans were still trading blows and only the people Michael had moved out of the way seemed to notice him. Michael walked in Selene's direction.  
  
"Selene can I borrow one of your guns?" Michael asked as he looked back to where he had been standing. The space was closed and even more lycan's were standing there now.  
  
"You're not going to shoot them are you?" Aubrey asked assertively.  
  
"No of course not!" Michael replied as he caught the gun Selene threw to him. "It wouldn't do anything anyway," Michael continued as he took out the cartridge. He showed Aubrey the bullets. "Look, they are the U.V ones. They wouldn't do anything to you except hurt like hell."  
  
Michael put the cartridge back in the gun and he walked to about the halfway point from the groups of lycans and where he was just standing. He pointed the gun up in the air. Then he shot. There was a loud boom and the bullet could be heard going threw the ceiling.  
  
All the lycans stopped immediately after the gunshot rang out. Michael started walking towards the two fighting lycans. Everyone else made a path for him like they did for Lucian. Most were very intimidated because Michael was still in his hybrid form.  
  
The two fighting lycans whose names where Nikolas and Jared stopped fighting and stood in shock looking at Michael. Michael knew their names for a reason he couldn't quite place. The two heaved and changed into their human form.  
  
"You're acting like a pack of rabid dogs!" Michael heard himself yell. He looked around and saw that some people remembered this speech. "And that, gentlemen, is something that simply will not do. Not if you expect to defeat the vampyres on their own ground. Not if you expect to survive at war." There was a pause. Michael looked at Nikolas and Jared who were standing before him butt naked. Michael then continued. "Nikolas! Jared! .... Put some clothes on will you."  
  
With that the group slowly dissipated until it was just Nikolas and Jared. They looked in shock to their new leader. Finally they slowly slumped of towards their rooms.  
  
Aubrey, now in human form, ran up to Michael who was also now in human form. "Well done! Well done! Couldn't have done it better myself. And you had that touch."  
  
"What do you mean?" Michael asked.  
  
"Well if I may say, if you're going to win over a crowd of lycans, the best way to do it is by quoting Lucian!" Aubrey explained.  
  
Michael smiled at him and turned around to see Raze and Selene smiling at him. He looked at Selene. He loved it when she smiled. It made him feel like he had accomplished something good. He walked toward her, his leadership already showing...  
  
I didn't really feel like doing a big cliffy. Michael is becoming a leader! Yahoo! R&R and I'll catch you later. Once again I am very sorry I made you wait so long... 


	12. The Accident

Demon-in-my-view13

Once again I am sorry for the long wait. I plan to update more now so don't worry. Ok...

Azira Morrgaine Vida Thank you, and yes the situation is quite the same. I checked from the movie before I wrote it and he did say 'at war'. But with his accent I could see how you would get it confused.

Undying Love

After the scuffle in the common room, Aubrey led Selene and Michael to a room as Raze went back to his lab. Everyone was silent as they went up the stairs. Michael wondered what Selene was thinking. Was she proud of him? He hoped she was. He knew he loved her. He, Michael Corvin loved a vampire named Selene, a beautiful woman he knew very little about. But Michael didn't care. Love is love and he wasn't prepared to deny that.

Selene stole a glance at Michael. She knew he cared so much for her. She hated it and wanted it at the same time. No one had ever shown her that kind of care before. But she needed to stay cold. Emotions could get in the way and she knew that. And yet she found herself wondering why his girlfriend left him. She remembered being in his apartment and seeing the pictures of him and his girl friend. Why would she leave such a caring person? Before she could start to answer this question, Aubrey stopped. Selene had realized that they had gotten off the stairs and were now at the end of a hallway. There was a door opposite the railing. Aubrey opened it.

"Welcome to our luxury sweet" He said proudly, pushing a black strand of hair out of his face.

Selene was the first to step into the room. It was very spacious. There was a heavy black curtain covering the only window. There was a bathroom with, Selene assumed, a shower. A closet was next to it. There was a bureau and a desk. There was also a canopy king size bed. Selene noticed that everything in this room was black, the walls, the doors, the canopy bed. But it wasn't a normal black. It had a certain glow to it. And there were black roses everywhere. But Selene still didn't get it...

"Didn't you already give us a bedroom?" she asked.

"That was just until this one was ready...Don't worry your things have already been moved up here." Aubrey answered. He looked back and forth between Michael who was looking at Selene, and Selene who was looking at him. "Well I'll leave you two alone." He smiled and did a slight bow. Then he turned, and jumped over the railing, landing on his feet below.

Michael walked into the room. Selene just stood where she was. She leaned down and picked up a rose. She took in its intoxicating scent. She soon came back to reality though and saw Michael was fingering at a bookcase. Selene dropped the rose. She walked over to the bureau. She opened to small drawer to find her guns and a couple cartages of ammo. She opened some more drawers and indeed found their clothes and the rest of the cartridges. Selene figured that by showing Aubrey and Raze that they had only brought the bullets specifically engineered to kill vampires, that they had won their trust. But Selene still thought that they should have brought some of the silver nitrate ones...just in case.

Selene turned around to see Michael sitting on the bed looking down, his long strands of blonde hair covering his eyes. Selene knew she had to keep things between them cold but she couldn't help but pity him. Though he had shown leadership before, Selene knew he was still very lost and confused. Here was this normal mortal who had been unluckily chosen to be brought into the crossfire of an age-old war. Not only was he just brought into it...he was a huge part of it. And here he was, new to everything, and expected to bring the lycans to victory? She couldn't even begin to imagine what he was feeling right now.

Selene's hard eyes softened. "Hey," she started. His eyes met hers. For once she was glad to see him showing affection, as apposed to him breaking down. "Are you okay?"

"Selene I don't know what to do. I have never even punched a guy before all this happened. I'm not strong like you..." he trailed off.

Selene sighed. Pep talk time...She was debating whether to talk the confidence into him, or to just train him. She wasn't sure which would be easier. She remembered when she was new to the coven. How hard it had been to keep up with all the death dealers. But she wanted to be a death dealer, they were the only ones who actually went out and fought the lycans. But she just wasn't that good. Then she met Khan. He helped train her up and got her ready. And then she went so far past his expectations. Now it was her turn to do that for Michael. Besides....She was never good at pep talks anyway.

"Well then," she started as he looked up again. "I guess I'll just have to make you."

"Make me what?" he replied.

"Strong...like me" she said, staring into his eyes. Just by looking him in the eye she could tell he had spirit, he was independent, strong, and wouldn't be put down easily.

Michael stood up. His confidence renewed. "Here?"

Selene couldn't help but smile slightly. "I'm sure they have a training room somewhere..."

And they did. It was huge and spacious. It took up almost the whole bottom floor. There was a fighting ring, a small gun range, a weight room, and punching bags. There was also a weaponry room off to the side. Selene could only guess that the lycans had matches with other lycans and got to use weapons. There were all kinds of assortments of weaponry, ranging from maces, to whips, to guns. There was a great deal of many swords too.

Aubrey was down there, beating the crap out of a punching bag. He paused momentarily to see who entered. When he saw it was Selene and Michael he stopped, waved briefly, and then walked over to the gun range, which had a divider between it, and the arena.

"Ok" Selene said with a sigh. She had no idea where to begin. She thought him battling her without warming up wouldn't be fair. She walked over to a punching bag. She took of her leather trench coat and threw it to the side. Underneath it was a leather tank top, which Michael had never seen before because she always wore her trench coat. She took off her gun holsters and looked to Michael.

Michael followed her lead. He took off his trench coat and threw it to the side, revealing his shirtless chest and abs. Selene wasn't sure but she could have swore he went very quickly from a four pack to a six pack. She quickly diverted her gaze before he noticed though.

"Alright. Lets start with the punching bag." Selene said.

Michael took to the punching bag right away. He was a quick learner. He punched it and kicked and added some extra moves to try and impress Selene. He found after a while he was in his own little world, just him and the punching bag. Soon even Selene disappeared from his world. He took out every emotion he felt with the punching bag. Sometimes when he was done, his fists were bleeding.

Finally the day came when Selene felt he was ready to fight her. She decided hand to hand combat would be best to start off with. It went well at first. Selene was amazed at how swiftly Michael moved in his hybrid form. He was there one second and gone the next. She found it hard to focus on where he was because he moved so swiftly.

Michael moved behind Selene and tried to punch her in the back. She turned around and blocked it. The she punched him in the eye and then knocked his feet out from under him. Then as he was falling she kneed him in the chin and Michael flipped backwards. She hesitated when he didn't get up. Did she take it to far?

Michael quickly got up. He was mad now. Before thinking about what he was doing or who he was fighting, he backhanded Selene with all his strength. She went flying into the wall. Michael's hard eyes softened as he heard something crack.

Michael, now in human form, ran as quickly as his injuries would allow over to Selene who was just started to get up. She had a huge cut on her cheek, not to mention injuries in her back. She turned her cold, ice blue eyes to Michael. Once she saw him she backed away from him in fear. Michael was shocked. She was actually _afraid_. And it was all _his_ _fault_.

" Selene! I'm So Sorry! I could see what I was doing but I couldn't stop it! Selene! I'm Sorry!" He yelled to her in sorrow. Did he just ruin everything?

Selene seemed to snap back to reality. She touched her cheek. When she looked at her hand there was a big line of blood on it. She looked at Michael who looked back at her, his eyes full of concern and sorrow. Him throwing her into the wall wasn't the part that scared her. It was his eyes. His eyes, even though they were naturally black in his hybrid form, they were full of darkness and hatred, which allowed him that much strength. He had tapped into his true hybrid power. Something she never wanted him to do. Once he turned down the path to that kind of darkness and hatred, there was no turning back, and she would lose him forever...

But what scared Selene most was that he looked at _her_. His anger was all directed at _her._ What had she done to make him snap? All she knew was that she never wanted to see Michael look at her like that again. It scared her so much. Before she knew it, she was leaning forward and hugging him. And he was hugging her back.

Aubrey heard a loud crash and threw open the door. He saw Michael and Selene, on their knees hugging. He also saw a huge dent in the wall. _Shit! _He thought. _Must have taken some real power to make a dent that big!_ But Aubrey could tell that Selene and Michael were having a moment. _It looks like they are okay anyway..._He slowly closed the door and left them alone.

Selene, still hugging Michael, felt her eyes change back to their normal hazel color. She heard Michael mumble something about being a moron. She felt blood mix with a single tear run down her face and land on Michael's shoulder. She felt him slid an arm behind her legs.

Michael picked Selene up and carried her back to their new room. All the while she held onto him and never let go. Once back into their room, Michael laid Selene on the bed. He was almost convinced that when he put her down she wouldn't let go. But she did. He walked over to get a chair and then pulled it next to the bed. He felt her eyes on him the whole time. But before sitting down he fixed up her cuts. But she could not meet his eyes. This left Michael very confused. But he just kept on going. He decided to think that Selene was a very confusing person, and that you could never expect anything with her.

When he was done with her, he wrapped his hands, which were bleeding. On the way up he punched several walls. He then sat in the chair he pulled up to the bed and red a book until Selene fell asleep. When she did, he quietly slipped out of the room. He meant to go for a walk but he found himself back in the training room. He walked over to where Selene hit the wall. He touched the dent and flinched. He walked out of the arena to find Aubrey talking with Jared, the lycan he found fighting before. Michael started beating on a punching bag.

Back in the room, Selene was just waking up. She looked to the chair but Michael wasn't there. She touched her cheek. She peeled off the bandage to find the cut was just another one of her scars. She walked over to the lab top on the desk. She turned it on. She found one icon that said "Security Cameras". She double clicked it. She went through image after image and found the one she was looking for. Michael was in the training room as she had suspected. From what it looked like, he was taking his anger out on the punching bag. Suddenly with one angry kick, the punching bag went flying off the chain, linking it to its stand.

He must have been stupid! How could he have left himself hurt her like that! Michael felt like such an idiotic moron. She would probably never trust him again! He remembered how badly her head was bleeding. How dare he hurt the woman he cared for?!?! He got really mad at himself and he kicked the punching bag. It went flying across the room and landed forcefully on the ground a few meters away.

The punching bag caught Aubrey's attention. He dismissed Jared and Walked over to Michael. "Not bad for human form." Michael didn't look at Aubrey. He just stared at the punching bag. Aubrey heard him mumble something about being sorry about the punching bag.... and the wall.

"So let me guess...you and Selene were fighting, you got mad, and threw her into a wall. And now you fell like an idiot, and you don't think she'll ever talk to you again..." Aubrey said.

"Yeah that's the short version. I'm just really mad at myself for hurting her. You should have seen her face when she saw me walk up to her after...she looked terrified. In all the time I've known this woman, I've never seen her scared...at all. She's always so in control. It hurts real bad to know that I made her that scared that easily...I just..." Michael trailed off as he kicked another punching bag off it's stand.

"Ahh, It's not your fault. You know why she was that scared?" Aubrey asked, trying to stop Michael before they didn't have any more punching bags. Michael just shrugged. Aubrey went on to explain how Michael had tapped into his true hybrid power. Michael slowly began to understand. He went on beating the crap out of the punching bags and when he was done three more ended up flying across the room. Having all of his rage out of his system he decided to go check up on Selene. He went up the stairs, skipping every other step.

He opened the door to find that Selene wasn't in the room. But then he heard the shower going. He walked over to the closet and pulled out the first aid kit. He unwrapped the bloody wraps on his hand and replaced them with new ones. Then he walked over and found the computer was on. He looked and saw it was the images of the camera in the training room. He looked on the keyboard and saw a drop of some sort of liquid. He wiped with his finger and smelled it. It had a salty smell, which indicated it was a tear. Michael felt his guilt seep back into him. Suddenly he heard the water stop. He walked over to the bed and sat on it. He leaned back and sighed.

Selene stepped out of the bathroom. She saw Michael lying diagonally on the bed. He sat up and looked at her. Their eyes connected. Michael stood up and walked over to her.

"Selene, I'm so sorry, I di-" Michael was stopped as he found Selene's fingers on his lips.

Selene had no idea what she was doing. She saw what she was doing but she couldn't stop herself...She leaned forward into Michael. She brought her hands up around his neck as she connected her lips with his. Michael brought his hands around her back and pulled her into him. He pushed his tongue into her mouth and found that hers connected with his...

BUM BUMM BUMMM! The long awaited kiss. I knew you were all gonna rip me apart if I didn't do it soon but I had to build up to it! This was longest chapter I've written so far. It took me a while to edit it and get it just right...Yeah so there ya go. We are all gonna see a big change in Selene now. But is she doing it to protect Michael from the darkness inside, Or does she really have deep feelings for him? FIND OUT NEXT TIME!


	13. Alter Ego

Demon-in-my-view13

Hello all. As you know in the last chapter the long awaited kiss happened. I was excited about that too. So, as I have said previously there is going to be a big change in Selene, and a certain someone will have a big hand in it. So why don't I just shut up and let you see for yourself?

By the way, thank you Serindipity9 for reviewing. Thank you Lady k2 for your review as well. It's review like that, that make this all worth it. And thank you everyone else who has reviewed as well.

And here are what the characters look like: Selene: Kate Beckinsale (DUH!!), Michael: Scott Speedman (DOUBLE DUH!!!) Aubrey: Drew Fuller but with longer black hair, Ravyn (not the Ravyn from My other stories!): Angelina Jolie with black hair, Jared: Vincent Kartheiser, Frost: David Borneaz (but a couple years younger, like what he looked like when he first appeared on Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

And, if I can change the title of this story to it's correct spelling, I will, So from now on it's going to be spelt right: Undying Love

Now, on with the show!

Undying Love

Selene's tongue danced with Michael's as she leaned in closer to him. Time itself seemed to stop. Was she enjoying this? They seemed to stand there forever. Suddenly the door silently opened to reveal Aubrey standing there looking down at some papers.

"Hey Michael we're-" Aubrey stopped abruptly as he saw Michael and Selene kissing.

Michael felt Selene pull away. He screamed a damnit in his mind. Of all the times!

Aubrey couldn't help but chuckle a little. "I'm...uhem, sorry to uhh, interrupt, uhh...but we have someone who would like to talk to you....both, of...uhh...you..." Aubrey walked away laughing to himself.

Selene glanced at Michael once and then followed Aubrey. Michael followed a couple seconds after, cursing at Aubrey's bad timing.

The three of them walked down the flights of stairs in silence. Michael new it was best not to look at Selene at all. If he did that she'd feel shy around hi again. He didn't want her to feel like that. He didn't want her to feel like she had to hide from him. Suddenly he had the urge to punch something.

"Uhh Aubrey, Do we have to do this now?" Michael asked Aubrey, diverting Selene's gaze as she glanced at him.

"Nah, This can wait for a little while." Aubrey replied, trying to be flexible. He wanted to give Michael and Selene some room. The sense of awkwardness between them was driving him crazy anyway.

Michael started walking to the training room. He was really surprised when Selene hesitantly followed him. He walked into the part of it where the punching bags were, of course. He threw his jacket to the side and promptly started beating on one.

_Moron! Idiot! _Selene cursed at herself as she kicked a punching bag. _How could I have been so stupid! _She remembered telling herself things needed to stay cold. How could she have let herself give into her emotions! _Fuck!_ She punched the bag so hard she could have sworn she felt something crack in her knuckles. Selene cursed herself again. She kicked the bag and sent it flying across the room. It headed straight for a young woman. The woman saw the bag coming. Selene could only look on in shock as the bag exploded and everything inside it went flying everywhere. When all the bag's insides cleared, Selene could see the woman's foot in the air. She couldn't believe it. That bag was hurled at that woman at more the 100 miles per hour and she just kicked open. She must have been strong...

Selene walked over to the young woman. She had black hair that stopped about an inch below her shoulders. There three crimson streaks in it on each side. But the streaks were in the shape of a thin lightning bolt. Selene wondered it was some kind of tribal marking. Her right eye was a deep emerald, and the left one was ruby. There was the Japanese symbol of 'death' tattooed on her left arm. The woman was wearing a tank top so Selene could see all the scars on her arms. She also had a scar running diagonally from her temple, to the side of her chin. Her hands were wrapped but she was bleeding through them. She was toned too. She looked to be very tough. She wore a black tank top, army pants, and black army boots. She also wore a cobalt colored pendant but Selene couldn't tell what the shape was.

"Sorry about that." Selene said.

"Oh, It's alright. Good practice." The woman said with an English accent.

"You do that a lot?"

"Oh, no but I've been meaning to practice it. Never know when it will come in handy..."

"Yeah" Selene said. She started to walk away.

"Hey," The woman called after her. "You're Selene right?"

Selene turned around. " You know me?"

"Well not personally, but I've heard a lot about you. I'm Ravyn, Aubrey's girlfriend"

"Oh, nice to meet you."

There was a big thud. The two walked over to the arena to find a big surprise. Aubrey was sparring with Michael. To Selene, Aubrey's lycan form looked bigger than usual. He heavily breathed, bleeding from multiple cuts. Michael, in his hybrid form, had barely broken a sweat, though he too, was bleeding from several spots.

Aubrey let out a roar and charged at Michael. He was unusually fast for a lycan as well, Selene noted. Michael dodged his blow and jumped up. He landed on Aubrey's back and sunk his claws into Aubrey's back. Ravyn cheered Aubrey on. Selene wondered if she should be cheering for Michael?

Aubrey fell to his knees. Michael jumped off as Aubrey fell to the ground.

"I wonder if he's gonna fall for it?" Ravyn said aloud.

"Fall for what?" Selene asked.

"Watch" Ravyn pointed.

Michael walked up close to see if Aubrey was ok. Suddenly Aubrey's paw came out of nowhere and hit Michael's feet out from under him. Michael fell flat on his back. Aubrey stood up and shaked his black pelt.

"Wow" Selene uttered. Ravyn went on to cheer for Aubrey.

"C'mon Michael!" Selene couldn't help it. She had to give him some confidence. If he wasn't careful he could tap into his true power again.

Michael lifted up his head. He saw Aubrey standing over him. Aubrey was his friend; he wasn't going to kick Michael while he was down. Michael turned his head to Selene. Was she really cheering for him. Michael flashed back to when they were kissing. He suddenly got a blast of courage come over him.

_I'm sorry that I hurt you. It's something I must live with everyday. And all the pain I put you through. I wish that I could take it all away. And be the one who catches all your tears. That's why I need you to hear _

Aubrey picked Michael up and threw him. But Michael faced his feet at the wall. As he hit he pushed off it, making a good indent in the wall, and went flying back at Aubrey. Claws extended, he hit Aubrey in the abdomen. Aubrey, not expecting this, let out a gag as he fell backwards, getting the wind knocked out of him. Michael stood over him. But over knew defeat when it stared defiantly in his face. He hit the ground three times with his massive paws, a sign indicating that he admitted defeat...

I've found a reason for me, to change who I used to be. A reason to start over new, and the reason is you. I've found a reason to show a side of me you didn't know. A reason for all that I do and the reason is you...

Ravyn and Selene jumped off the stands and ran into the arena. Aubrey, still in his lycan form, staggered to his feet. He and Michael shook hands. Ravyn crashed onto Aubrey's lycan back and wrapped her hands around his neck. She kissed his cheek and smiled, showing her pointy canines. Selene walked up to Michael. They both stared at Aubrey and Ravyn.

"Kids..." Selene said.

"Yeah" Michael half growled, half chuckled. Ravyn now had Aubrey pinned to the ground and was giving a victory hug. Ravyn gave a quick glance at Selene.

Selene looked at Michael who returned his hybrid gaze. How could this man ever turn uncontrollably evil? The thought now seemed ridiculous. But Selene still decided to keep an eye out.

Over the next couple of days Selene found herself with Ravyn a lot. They had become friends. Though Selene wasn't sure at first, she now concluded that Ravyn was a vampire. But she had a trace of something...different in her aura. Something Selene had never encountered before and couldn't quite place. But whatever it was, it explained why she was so strong. Selene and Ravyn had fought in hand-to-hand combat twice. Once Ravyn won and then Selene had won. She had to admit that Ravyn was challenge. But not as much as Michael had been, Selene was sure that after she had not traced any darkness in his aura over the range of a few days that she had been mistaken.

Michael was in the arena that was outside. He seemed to have a little fan group going. Aubrey, Ravyn, and Selene. As he exhaled, his breath was seen in the misty light of the moon. A week ago he had not even known something like himself was even possible. He would not have given it a second thought. He quickly ducked as Jared threw a punch at him. Jared was a brown colored, regular size lycan. Nothing special, at least, nothing that Michael could see. But he had lots of rebellious pride and spirit. He was not defeated easily. Perhaps that's why Michael liked him.

Michael threw his hybrid hand, in and upward angle, at Jared's nose. He heard a crack. As Jared's eyes started to water he grasped his nose. Michael took this opportunity to drop down and kick Jared's feet out from under him. Jared fell but he grasped Michael's arm and took him down too. Jared got up quickly. As Michael got to his knees, Jared kicked his abdomen twice. Then Jared kicked Michael's spinal cord. This sent blinding pain up to Michael's head and it happened...

Even though Selene was a little distance away, she could feel the darkness shrouding Michael's aura. Up close, Jared hesitated as Michael threw his head back in pain. Jared could practically see the fire in Michael's eyes. His already extended canines grew slightly more. His claws grew a little as well. A faint aura surrounded Michael, which looked like blue flames. Michael slowly got to his feet. As he did so, the aura around him got less faint. Jared was in pure shock. So much he didn't even see Michael's paw as he backhanded Jared. That small movement sent Jared, still in lycan form, flying across the arena.

In the stands Selene stood up. Could it be? Could he have really tapped into his power that much? She saw him turn his head as she stood up. He started to charge at her. Selene, in pure shock, just stood there, unable to move. Just before he rammed into her, Ravyn came out of nowhere and threw herself at him. This moment sent them both flying off the stands. They both lay there. Then, the hybrid got to his feet. Selene couldn't call him Michael, that wasn't Michael anymore...it was something else...something evil. The hybrid was about to rip Ravyn's head off. Aubrey, in his lycan form, leaped off the stands and landed on the hybrid, who not being able to hole Aubrey's weight on such a short notice, fell to the ground. But Aubrey was unconscious on the ground before Selene knew it. But the hybrid had barely broken a sweat. It was clear it was not using the full stretch of its power.

Selene remembered back to when Michael had fought Aubrey in control. It took Michael nearly a half an hour to defeat Aubrey. But this creature had undone him within two seconds. What power! The hybrid turned to Selene. Instinctively, Selene brought out her two pistols. She shot the hybrid four times with each pistol. Realizing this wouldn't subdue him for long, she jumped off the highest plank on the stands. Landing on her feet below, Selene sprinted for the sewers with which they had come out off. But before she could even make a dent in the distance, the hybrid was in front of her, breathing heavily. She saw something seeping through its veins. Then it hit her. One of her pistols had been loaded with the silver nitrate bullets! Selene had completely forgot. The other was loaded with the U.V. bullets. Selene couldn't shoot the hybrid! Enough of the bullets and she could kill him, and Michael.

Realizing she was helpless, Selene put her guns back into their holsters. This hybrid was like a wild animal. She needed to get the message threw to it that she was no threat. Selene held her hands out to her sides and looked down. She remained as absolutely still as she could. This was no good. The hybrid gave a throaty growl. He whipped his claw at Selene's face. It went across her right cheek. The red crimson contrasted with Selene's ivory white skin. She couldn't believe it. This beast had taken control of Michael. She was mad at him and sorry for him at the same time. She backed up but no matter how far she moved the beast closed in. Suddenly Selene tripped and fell backwards. She braced herself for the hybrid's claws to come and rip her in pieces.

Michael couldn't stop. Once again he could see what he was doing but he couldn't stop it. No matter how hard he tried. He tried to stop his arm from slashing Selene's face. As she tripped he screamed no. He would never hurt the woman he loved! The hybrid hesitated. _Yeah that's right! _Michael yelled in his mind. _I love her! I Love Her!_

Suddenly the hybrid fell to his knees in the snow, holding his head as if to keep it from exploding. The pain was gone as fast as came. Michael, though still in his hybrid form, found he had control again. He staggered to his feet and ran over to Selene, slipping in the snow here and there.

When Selene saw the hybrid coming she winced. But there was something different about it. Its darkness was gone. It was Michael again. She got up and hugged him.

Michael gave Selene a great embrace as he whispered 'I'm sorry' over and over again into her ear. He felt two drops of liquid drip onto his shoulder. Whether they was tears or blood, he would never know...

DUN DUNN DUNNN! Uh-oh, does Michael have an alter ego now that he's a hybrid? We will soon find out. And if any of you are wondering why I am drifting so off topic from Marcus and all, well...I have read to many Underworld fan fics where Marcus plays a bid part. I mean, DUH I know he's a big part I didn't think some people are getting that Michael is a hybrid now. He's most likely going to have some self-conflict...I don't know, that's just what I think. So don't Marcus is coming soon. Until then, R&R and I'll catch you later!


	14. Hunting

Demon-in-my-view13

Hello everyone. Well all I can say about this chapter is that something happens. But first...

Lady K2- Thank you. I tried to get some excitement into that one. Yeah, I haven't seen any fics yet where Michael had an alter ego. I tried to do something original. Yeah the tone of the song didn't really go with the story but the lyrics did. And I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Midnightqueen6- I was thinking of having Michael knock her unconscious as well but then I realized that ok this is Michael, he's knew to everything and is gonna need someone to help him get control. What better person than Selene?

Serendipity9- Lol, thank you. Yes...Yes I do rock. You almost had it but not really. Lol. Michael only has two personalities. One is the regular hybrid Michael. The one who cares deeply for Selene, makes friends with the lycans and all that jazz. The second is the evil one. He takes advantage of people and manipulates people by their emotions. He is the 'hybrid power'. But you'll obviously hear more about him later. So basically they are like yin and yang. Get it?

Undying Love

The next day Selene kept a close eye on Michael. She felt stupid for letting the hybrid get out of control. She was not going to let it happen again. She had one of her guns loaded with her regular silver bullets. The other was loaded with tranquilizers. One shot was enough to take down an elephant. Selene only hoped it was enough.

Ravyn and Aubrey didn't seem to have hard feelings against Michael. If they did, Selene couldn't sense it.

One day came when they were all in the common room. A bunch of lycans were milling restlessly about, doing random and miscellaneous activities. Some were calm enough to relax and chat with friends. But there was one ebbing question on everyone's mind. What about Marcus? As Michael passed by he heard two lycans talking about him. One was surprisingly optimistic; they said that Marcus had no clue where their hideout was and would not find it in enough time to fend off the lycan attack. Michael sighed; some lycans actually thought he already had a plan? The other lycan was quite pessimistic. He said that Marcus knew exactly where they were located and was just waiting to attack when they least expected it.

Aubrey walked up to Michael. "Hey Michael, you busy?"

"No"

"I think we need to go out and hunt Michael, we are running short on blood. And people are getting restless. And it will make them feel better if a hunting team comes back unharmed." Aubrey had worked that out in his head before coming to Michael.

Michael pondered this for a moment. Aubrey had a point. The pack was getting restless. It probably would make them feel better if someone came back unharmed. But Michael did not want to endanger any of his pack mates. "I don't want anyone getting hurt Aubrey. If we have to then fine but.... Can't we just get some of that plasma blood stuff?"

"Nah, the pack will know the difference." Aubrey said, looking down.

Michael was silent for a moment. It seemed there was no choice. "Ok but I'm going."

"No Michael you can't, what if you were to get injured...or killed even? We can't survive without you. You are the only reason this pack has stayed together as long as it has. You're the glue. They have faith in you, they won't live without you." Aubrey defended. "I'll have my best men go out."

"And if they were to get killed? Who else would help protect the pack?"

"Better them than you!"

"Look Aubrey, I won't risk the lives of the pack just so I can be safe. I can't explain it but it makes me feel like Victor. Having my men do my bidding for me, not caring if they died. I don't want to be like that. I want to understand what this pack is going through and I can't do that sitting on the sidelines. I'm sorry I just won't. I'm going and that's that!" Michael argued.

Aubrey looked like he was going to say something but he thought better of it. The thought of Michael taking command of this pack so quickly brought a smile to his face. "I'll assemble the team."

Michael looked all over the common room for Selene. She was nowhere. Neither was Ravyn. He walked into the mess hall. Not there either. But he did see Jared, who Michael figured was on serving duty. The lycans rotated jobs every week or so.

"Hey Jared!" Michael called to him.

"Oh hey Michael, Aubrey told me you were coming out to hunt with us?" Jared questioned happily. He too, also held no hard feelings against Michael's hybrid.

"Yeah, have you seen Selene recently?" Michael asked.

"Uhh yeah. She and Ravyn were in here about fifteen minutes ago."

"Did you catch where they said they were going?" Michael asked anxiously.

"Umm...Ravyn said something about introducing Selene to TV, why?"

"But I was just in the common room, they weren't there."

"Don't you have one in your room?" Jared wondered, filling up three styro-foam cups with some sort of liquid.

"Oh right! Thanks Jared! See ya later!" Michael said, jogging away.

"Wait Michael here!" Jared called after him.

Michael turned ran back. Jared gave him the three cups and found they had tops on them and were labeled. "What's this?" he asked.

"Blood. A positive for Ravyn, AB positive for Selene, and AB negative for you."

"Oh thank you Jared. Later!" Michael said, jogging away again.

Michael hadn't really gotten used to drinking blood yet. But his system wouldn't accept anything else. It would, but Michael would never feel full. So he just coped with blood. He had to admit that some part of him craved it. He knew which part...

Michael reached the door. He switched all the cups into his left hand as he knocked with his right. Though it was his room too, he thought he'd just be polite. He heard the TV going. He also heard Ravyn say, "I smell blood!" He heard her run over to the door.

"Password?" she yelled from the other side.

"Password? No one told me anything about a password!" Michael teased. Despite Ravyn's age she was still a kid inside. Even though he couldn't see her, Michael knew Selene was smiling slightly. He had developed a sixth sense for her.

"Sorry, can't enter without a password!" Ravyn yelled.

Michael sighed happily. "How's this for a password? I have blood and if you don't open the door then I get it all to myself! On second thought...Leave the door closed, I'm hungry!" he joked.

The door immediately opened and Ravyn grabbed Michael's black T- shirt and pulled him in with, not to mention, great strength. The room was dark except for the glow of the TV. Michael could see it had landed on 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer.' "Oh god..."

"We were channel surfing I swear!" Ravyn smiled.

Michael didn't have the chance to give Ravyn her cup. But he gently passed Selene hers even though there was a lid on it. Then he took his own and sipped some. He felt his system come to life as the crimson liquid made it's way down to his stomach.

They watched the show until it ended, Michael and Ravyn commenting on how unrealistic it was. Selene just sat and said her share in her head. She knew exactly what a TV was and how it worked and even watched it when she had time back at the coven. Ravyn was only introducing her to the cartoons and the lighter side of it, even though Selene knew it existed.

As the watched the credits, a knock came from the door. "Password?" Ravyn shouted without taking her eyes away from the glowing box.

"New England clam chowder!" Came a voice Michael recognized as Aubrey's.

"Hey how come you told him the password and not me?" He teased.

Ravyn ignored him. Instead she shouted, "Red or white!?" she shouted back.

"I can never remember that...red?" Aubrey took a lucky guess.

Ravyn opened the door and Aubrey was excited. So for a while Michael, Selene, Ravyn, and Aubrey watched TV making all sorts of cynical and not so cynical comments. After a while Jared opened the already ajar door.

"Aubrey, Michael, Ravyn what are you doing?" he asked with a confused look on his face.

Ravyn answered for all of them. "Resting?" she asked as if for confirmation. She looked at Michael and then to Aubrey, noting their relaxed positions and moods. Then she studied her own relaxed position. "Yes, yes most assuredly resting." She replied with a grin on her face.

"C'mon they're ready to go!" Jared said, making 'come on' gestures with his hands.

"Who?" Selene asked, looking to Michael.

"Oh damn, sorry Selene I completely forgot. Aubrey, Jared, Ravyn, some other lycans, and I are going out hunting." Michael told her.

"I'm coming too." Selene invited herself.

"No I want you to stay here, where you are safe." Michael argued.

Selene hated when they argued. She wished he could just accept what she wished. Then again, people who agreed right off the bat weren't to be trusted either. " So you would rather have me sit here, bored out of my mind instead of coming out to help where I am actually useful?" she questioned him.

"I'm not willing to risk your safety" Michael countered.

"Michael I'm coming and you can't stop me." She stared straight into his blue eyes. She felt hers beginning to turn their icy blue color.

Somewhere from deep inside Michael came the thought of '_Wanna bet?'_ But he just shook his head slightly. Apparently the beast inside him could speak. But Michael knew that when Selene had her mind made up that there was no stopping it. He walked past her and grabbed their trench coats. He through Selene's to her as he pulled his on. "Let's go"

Walking on the street, the group passed an old restaurant that Michael used to eat breakfast and sometimes dinner at everyday. A waitress came out with a bag of trash. She looked up at Michael and then looked back down. Michael ducked next to Aubrey just as the waitress looked back up again with wide eyes. When she didn't see who she thought she saw she shook her head and mumbled something about getting to old. Aubrey looked from him to the waitress. He shook his head and kept walking.

"What was that about?" Aubrey asked once they were safely out of view of the diner.

"I used to know her." Michael said staring blankly.

The group, consisting of Aubrey, Michael, Selene, Ravyn, Jared, Nikolas, and two lycans named Vincent and Frost, found themselves in an alley. No one was on the streets. Aubrey decided they should split up. Frost, Nikolas, Jared, and Vincent went to the south part of the city. Aubrey, Ravyn, Selene, and Michael took the north side and would meet the others in the central part of the city. The night went on long as they took people, bite them, put their drained blood in capsules, and moved on. Several times Michael thought he was going to throw up. But he held his stomach. Perhaps the only reason why he didn't was because of the hybrid inside of him. Aubrey told him "For every mortal that dies tonight, three more will take its place." That helped Michael a little bit.

Michael and the group found themselves walking down yet another alley. They had enough blood to feed almost half the pack. Michael only hoped that the others had done just as well. Aubrey was right. Mortals weren't his people anymore. The lycans were. Suddenly something went into his back at such a force that it made Michael stumble to the ground. He felt blood coming out of his back. He turned around and saw someone with a gun on top of a building. He looked to Aubrey who had already turned into his lycan form. He jumped up to the building, but the man shot and Aubrey came tumbling down. Suddenly vampires, by their scent, came out of the shadows.

Selene saw Michael change into his hybrid form. She got a feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach. Hopefully he would be able to maintain control. She whipped out her twin Beretta's. Luckily she remembered to change the rounds before they left. They were both filled with UV bullets. She fired one single shot at the vampire on the top of the building. The vampire on top the building saw it almost in slow motion. Selene, the traitor to his kind, fired a bullet at him. As it got closer he could see it was glowing in a bluish color. He crossed his eyes trying to keep his eyes on it, as it got closer. It hit him between the eyes. He was dead before the bullet even took its affect. His corpse burned from the inside as he fell to the street.

Meanwhile, Michael broke one vampires neck and jumped on the back of another one. To anyone else the hunting group would look out numbered matched with the vampires. But just him and Aubrey alone was enough power to take out half of them. He heard Selene fire her gun. He looked up momentarily and saw the vampire on top of the building fall twenty stories and hit the ground. He was snapped back to attention as he got punched in the jaw. Any normal human would have been knocked unconscious by such a blow but he just backhanded the vampire with extreme force, breaking its neck in the process. Suddenly Selene appeared in front of him. She pulled the trigger on her gun. A UV bullet shot past Michaels head and hit a vampire behind him. He mouthed a 'thank you' to her and turned to help Aubrey who was struggling with three vampires.

Selene was shooting at some vampires that were cornering Ravyn when she got pounded in the back of the head with immense force. She fell to her knees. Even though she remained conscious, Selene's vision went black and she couldn't see. She felt a vampire jump on her back and she blindly shot. The vampire slid off. Her vision, yet cloudy, came back to her. Her head was throbbing with sharp pain.

Michael looked happily at the massacre of vampires around him. He looked in Selene's direction. He saw her get hit in the head and fall. He ran over to the vampire. The male vampire was just about to bit her, but Michael sank his teeth into it first. He got a rush when the vampire's delicious blood entered his system. The vampire looked up in surprise. Michael saw Selene raise her gun. She shot blindly and the bullet hit him in the chest.

Michael raised his head and gasped in pain. He snapped the vampire's neck and the vampire fell off. Michael touched his chest. The bullet almost ripped through his lung.

Selene got to her feet and looked around. "Michael?" she asked. "Michael" she asked again, almost as if he wasn't even there. Suddenly she sank to her knees.

Michael rushed over and caught Selene before she completely hit the ground. All the attacking vampires were dead, and they had the blood needed, but this was the price. Deep down in his gut Michael knew something like this was going to happen and he cursed himself for giving in so easily and letting her come.

Michael slipped his arm behind Selene's knees. With one arm around her back, he picked her up. He looked around to the lycans around him, the other Jared, Vincent, Nikolas, and Frost having tracked them down and standing there wide eyed.

He sighed. He needed to take care of Selene and the pack, but he wasn't sure which was more important at the moment. He shook his head. "Collect the blood from the fallen vampires, then lets head back. There's been enough of a massacre for one night."

The group took the back alleys to the den. A group of people wearing all black and covered in blood, holding tons of capsules, beakers, cups, bowls, and buckets full of a dark red liquid would look pretty suspicious. "All it takes is one mortal screaming to blow a hole operation." Aubrey had told Michael. Michael had been in a sort of daze ever since the left that one alley. Aubrey saw him continuously looking down at Selene, making sure she was still breathing and all that jazz. That just made Aubrey put his arm around Ravyn and bring her close to him. He would probably break down him he had to carry her unconscious form home after a hunt like that. He didn't know how Michael did it all the time. Like when Michael hurt Selene that one day. Aubrey would have killed himself if he had ever let himself hurt anyone he loved as much as he loved Ravyn. But he just shuddered and kept walking, bringing Ravyn's questioning eyes up to him. She mouthed the words, 'Are you alright' to him. He just smiled and looked on, with his cold, distant eyes.

When back at the den, Michael bid everyone a good night and took Selene up to their room. He laid her on the bed gently. He couldn't go to sleep so he decided to pick up all the roses still scattered everywhere. Most of them were wilting and about to die except for a few. Michael put them in a vase of water. One of them he noticed, was the one Selene had picked up when they first came into the room. Her scent, mixed with that of the rose was absolutely intoxicating.

After he picked up all the roses, Michael decided it was time for a shower. He went quickly so that when Selene awoke he would be there. He finished up in a hurry and got dressed quickly, dark blue jeans, black combat boots and no shirt. Michael didn't see the need for one. If he was going to leave the room he would simply put one on.

Michael walked over to the bed. He went in a position that was a mix of sitting and lying down. Selene shifted her position so that her head was resting on his bruised abdomen. He didn't mind though.

He kept watch over Selene for the rest of the night and on until about noon. Soon she started to take in the right amount of breath necessary for a vampire. Then he saw her eyes flutter open.

Selene opened her eyes. She remembered last night. She remembered being knocked unconscious. Then she had gained some of her consciousness back and remembered being carried through the streets in Michael's arms. How warm they felt on her cold skin. Then it skipped to when she moved herself in a different position and she could feel him breathing, his abdomen going up and down. Carefully collecting her thoughts Selene realized she had her head on Michael's abs. She got up quickly.

"Well good afternoon to you too." She heard him say.

She turned back to him, searching for words. They still had never talked about their kiss. Oh well, they'd have to do that later...right now Selene had to many questions on her mind...

"Selene are you sure this is a good idea?" Michael asked.

"Michael if you're going to learn how to keep control then you need practice in battle. And since your alter ego likes to come after me I can't see any better idea." Selene replied.

It was the day after she woke up from being unconscious. She needed to teach Michael how to keep control by battling him. So far it was obvious that his alter ego was triggered by physical pain.

Michael was surprised at how calm Selene was. He tried to take her example and feel calm himself but he couldn't help but worry about her safety. He looked at the scar his other self left on her cheek. Michael felt himself shudder. Though his friends and Selene forgave him and as much as he'd like to think better of the situation, he knew better. Things would never be the same between him and them again...


	15. Stressed minds

Michael was down in the common room, listening to the other lycans talk about this and that. He liked how he felt so comfortable with them. More comfortable than he ever did with mortals. Yesterday he had trained with Selene and he had kept control. He had passed two lycans mumbling about why Marcus hadn't attacked them yet.

" You should be grateful" one said.

" The sooner he's dead the sooner we can hunt safely!" said the other.

" What do you think would happen if Marcus showed up with his band of Death Dealers? And with their new bullets! Half of the pack would be dead before we could ever even make a dent in their numbers!"

" But we have Michael!"

" Don't forget, Marcus is a hybrid to. And he's been an immortal much longer!"

" Whose side are you on?!"

The two stood up and morphed into their lycan forms. Before they could go at each other Michael ran between them.

" Guys stop! We will put an end to Marcus when I say so! I promise I won't let this pack slip threw the cracks! But how can we win if the pack doesn't trust each other?"

Michael's words got to the two lycans and they morphed back into their human forms and walked away. Michael sighed and headed for the mess hall, hoping Jared was on duty. He didn't know why but he felt like he could talk to Jared.

Walking in he bumped (literally) into Ravyn.

Michael rubbed his shoulder. " Sorry Ravyn."

" No it was my fault…I need to watch where I'm going."

" Is Jared by any chance on duty?"

Ravyn shook her head. " He's on the midnight shift now. Sorry."

" It's cool." Michael said as Ravyn turned and started to walk away. He cast a glance back the cafeteria and then back to Ravyn. " Hey Ravyn. Can I ask you something?"

Ravyn turned around, a concerned look on her face at Michael's tone. " Is something wrong?"

" I think some of the lycans think that it's time to face Marcus. Do you think that's a good idea?"

" I'm really not the one to give you an answer to that Michael. Why don't you ask Selene?"

" Well things have been real awkward between us ever since…you know" Michael looked down.

" Michael things are going to feel awkward until you start treating her like you used to. Believe me, she's feeling it to. Sure she won't admit it but I have a sense for stuff like that. Go talk to her. Ask her what you should do. Confide in her not me."

" You're right. Thanks Ravyn!" Michael said as he turned and ran to the room

" Any time!" Ravyn called after him.

Michael knocked on the door to their room. He had learned since being with Selene that she felt better towards him if he respected her privacy.

" Michael?" he heard Selene's voice.

" Yeah it's me Selene, can I come in?"

" Hold on" Michael heard some shuffling around in the room and the sound of her bare feet on the carpeted floor. There was a pause and then " Okay"

Michael turned the knob and opened the door. As he stepped in a waft of sweet smelling air came to greet his nose, indicating Selene had just taken a shower. He saw drops on the carpet from her wet hair. They led to the bathroom which had the door closed. Michael sighed and plopped down on the bed and turned the TV on. He turned it on to TBS. "Family Guy" was on in English. Aubrey said he had rewired it so all the channels were in English.

Michael heard the bathroom door open and looked to see Selene stepping out in a fresh new leather suit. Her boots made surprisingly small thuds as walked towards the desk. Her hair was still wet.

" Selene can I talk to you?"

Selene looked at him, not entirely surprised at his motion to speak. Michael wondered if Ravyn had talked to her like she talked to Michael. Her eyes narrowed as she nodded. She crossed her arms and leaned against the wall. " What is it?"

" I was down in the common room earlier and I heard to lycans argue about facing Marcus. One thought we were lucky he hadn't attacked yet and the other thought we should go and attack him. What do you think?"

Selene relaxed a little. She thought about Michael's question. He was the leader of the pack now and he should know what to do in this situation like this. But he was so very new to all of this. Would it be wise to attack Marcus head on? What wouldn't be good was to have Marcus come here to the lycan base. She'd never personally known Marcus but she knew he'd be furious to find out what has happened since he went to sleep two centuries ago. It was very complicated. If they laid low that would give the lycans time to recover but it would also give the vampires time to plan. If they attacked right away even in the vampire's confusion they could still lose a lot of lycans. _Look at me,_ she thought,_ a month ago all I could think about was extinguishing the very creatures I am now seeking to protect…amazing._

" I don't know Michael. Either way could be a deadly cost to us."

" I have no idea what to do." Michael sunk his head into his hands and rubbed his temples.

Selene got this feeling from out of nowhere that she wanted to comfort Michael. Was she truly growing a bond with him?

They both went to sleep with tired minds that day. So many questions were left unanswered. Selene didn't go to sleep right away though. She heard Michael come in later and change. Her back was to him. He walked over to the bed and plopped down. But Selene noticed that he did not try to get close to her as he did sometimes. He stayed right on the edge of the bed. _Odd._ She thought to herself.

Soon after she drifted to sleep. But then her sleep was invaded by an unwanted nightmare.

Michael snaps the neck of an unfortunate lycan who got in his way. Dead bodies, vampyre and lycan alike were scattered everywhere. Selene looked around in horror. She looked to her side to see Ravyn with her throat slashed open and her face lay still, plastered in horror with a thin layer of frost on it. Selene looked to her other side. Aubrey lay there in his lycan form with hot blood still gushing from several wounds. His face also, had a thin layer of frost covering it, but instead of fear his face held a look of pure pain and betrayal. It was enough to make Selene's stomach turn and her eyes well up with tears. Suddenly she felt the presence of a dark aura close to her. The hybrid was standing in front of her, growling and snarling. He was bleeding from a cut that ran diagonally from his right temple to the right side of his cheek. This fiend was not Michael. It had taken control again. It started walking towards Selene. She held out her guns and fired at it but it just wouldn't stop. Suddenly it jumped behind her and slashed…

Selene awoke with a gasp. She looked around nervously and saw she was in she and Michael's room. Michael was still sleeping soundly. Soundlessly she got up and walked into the bathroom. She closed the door and flicked the light on. She stood in front of the mirror. Selene turned her back to the mirror and looked at it to see her leather suit had four slash marks on it. She peeled her suit down to her waste to see that she was bleeding from four slash marks on her back.

Selene took in a deep breath. Why were her dreams affecting her this way?

Suddenly a knock came at the bathroom door. "Selene?" came Michael's questioning voice. "Are you okay?" his voice quivered somewhat.

Selene quickly put her suit back up and grabbed her trench coat to hide the marks. " Yes, I'm fine. What are you doing up?"

" I had a bad dream." Was his reply.

Selene's eyes widened a little bit. _Could he have had the same dream as me?_ She wondered. She opened the door to see Michael standing there, concerned. But what shocked Selene was to see that he was bleeding from a cut on his cheek. It ran diagonally from his right temple to the right side of his cheek…

"Michael…" she reached her hand up to his face to touch the cut. He flinched for a second but did not pull away.

" You had the same dream as I did, didn't you?" she asked him.

" Well, if we're talking about the same dream then yes."

Selene took her coat off and showed Michael the slits in her suit and on her back. Michael looked in horror. Selene was hurt, and it was his fault. He cringed at the thought. If he could get a hold of that hybrid he would strangle him.

" So, we had the same dream, and they hurt us. What does this mean?" he asked. He knew he had to get control now. He needed to protect Selene, at any cost.


	16. What am I fighting for?

Erika was holding a tray of blood. She had been ordered to take it to Marcus. She personally had never known the elder. She hadn't been a vampire that long but she had heard stories of him. Stories that were getting more frequent now that he was awake. They say his eyes were always the ice blue of a vampire, and that they never changed back. Another rumor was that if you looked him straight in the eye you would turn to stone. She doubted these were true though. Many of the Death Dealers had been to talk to him and none of them were turned to stone.

Erika composed herself and looked into the opaque mirror. Suddenly it turned transparent and revealed a vampire. He flipped a switch and the stone door opened, as did the glass. Erika took a deep breath and walked in.

Everything looked the same as it had been before. Marcus's coffin took the place of Viktor's on the altar. Erika looked at the stone disks on the floor. Viktor's body and Amelia's body (or what was left of it) had been returned to their coffins and would be buried upon Marcus's word. But there was something wrong on Marcus's stone disk. It was missing a piece, as if part of it had been torn off. _Odd…_ Erika thought to herself.

" Yes?" came a somewhat annoyed voice from a shadowy corner.

Erika jumped a bit. Marcus's voice was strong and firm, edged with ice. She tried to get down on one knee and bow to her elder and hold the tray flat at the same time. " I b-brought you blood…m-my lord."

There was silence for a moment. "Bring it here."

Erika got up and walked toward the voice. As she got closer she could she a man, maybe in his thirties or forties, standing there, looking at carvings on the wall. He had on a crimson trench coat that went a little past his knees and had the same markings on it that Viktor's did. He was wearing a black silk shirt and black pants with black boots. His hair was kind of blondish and short and spiked up.

Erika walked closer and he turned to face her. She cold see his piercing ice blue eyes and immediately averted her gaze to the floor.

Marcus looked at this vampire wench and gave a half smile. He took the blood from her tray and hungrily gulped it. Then his face got scrunched and he took the glass away from his lips.

" Something wrong, m-my lord?" Erika asked.

" Nothing beats blood straight from the vessel. I never really like O positive much. And this human must have been scared to literal death, the blood is so salty you can hardly taste anything else." Marcus said, looking down at his cup.

" I- I could go get you some more, if you wish, m-my lord"

Marcus looked down at the wench, who was still on one knee. " Child, stand up."

Erika looked at the vampire over lord with a confused look on her face, before obeying his orders and getting to her feet.

" The blood is fine. Now please, leave me, I have much thinking to do."

" Y-yes. Yes m-my lord. Th-thank you."

Ravyn was perched on top of a building, peering down at all of the weak minded mortals below. She found it hard to believe that she used to be one of them. She shook her head. Not anymore.

Ravyn stood up and walked away. She walked over to the opposite end of the building, which opened up into an alleyway. She walked back to the abandoned house, down the stairs, and was eventually back in the common room. Lycans were moving about as usual. She walked through the hallways until she came to Aubrey's door. She knocked twice.

" Who is it?" she heard Aubrey's voice.

" Me." She replied.

Seconds later the door opened. She walked in to see Selene, Michael, and Raze there. "What happened?" she asked.

" Michael and Selene are having joint dreams and they are acquiring physical pain from them." Raze answered.

" I still don't understand how it's possible." Michael said, looking to Raze.

Raze looked up, his voice booming as usual. " Well, you and Selene share a very strong blood link. Normally, when one is becoming, the one who is being bitten acquires the memories of the one who is biting."

Michael nodded. Sometimes he still woke up in a cold sweat from Lucian and Selene's memories, such horrible pasts they both had.

Raze continued. " Well, now, because your blood is so special Michael, when it got transferred into Selene's system, it bonded you two together, explaining why you are sharing the dreams…" Raze looked about him, seeing puzzled faces. " It's just a theory…"

" And it's the only one we have to go on right now." Aubrey spoke up.

" So what do we do about it?" Selene spoke up.

" Well…there's not really much we can do right now. We just have to wait and hope it doesn't get any worse." Aubrey replied, thinking hard.

Is answer did not satisfy Selene though. She folded her arms across her chest and looked at one corner of the room.

Ravyn looked around confused. She saw the scar on Michael's cheek, and the slash marks on Selene's suit. This didn't look good. And if she was asked to predict it, it didn't look like it was going to get any better either.

Around an hour later Selene found herself back in her and Michael's room. She was pacing about anxiously, as she usually did when she was thinking. First thing's first, she needed a new leather top, and one was found, she needed something to wear. She went over to the dresser and opened Michael's drawer. She was surprised to see a few very nice black silk shirts, no doubt loans from Aubrey. She pushed passed them and found what she expected. T-shirts of different colors and designs. She pulled out a simple black one and replaced her leather top with it. That, and a pair of dark blue jeans she had loaned from Ravyn would make up her outfit for now, though she still had her gothic leather boots.

She went into the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror. She looked different, normal even. She disliked it and liked it at the same time. She liked it because the clothes she wore now were much more loosely fitting and therefore allowed her to move in places she normally would not be able to. She disliked it because she looked so different. She looked almost mortal, except for her unearthly pale skin and elongated and rather sharp canines. She hated that fact. Then she scolded herself for caring about how she looked.

Michael walked in the room just in time to catch a glimpse of Selene looking at herself in the mirror. Then, he looked more closely and could see that she was not wearing her normal gloomy outfit. Jeans and a t-shirt? Was he seeing this right? Was that really Selene, or another trick his mind was playing? As Selene turned around in surprise to face him, he found his breath being taken away from him, much like the time he first saw her in the subway station.

Selene was taken off guard by Michael's shocked silence. Did he really think that she looked that bad? Selene caught herself in this thought. Why did she care what Michael thought of her? She didn't need his approval…right?

" What?" she finally asked him.

" Nothing…it's just…"

" Just what?"

" You look so…" he wanted to say beautiful, but decided against it.

" What?"

" Different. You look different. I've never seen you out of black leather." He scrambled, covering up for himself.

Selene took a final glance at the mirror, mumbling to herself, " Neither have I." Of course this was an exaggeration, but it was almost true.

" You look nice." Michael added, instantly regretting it. But the reaction her got was not what he expected.

" Thank you." She said in reply. A moment passed between them, when Michael and Selene looked at each other with absolute sincerity.

A knock came at the door and the moment was gone, but surprisingly enough, Michael was the first one to look away, not Selene.

Opening the door, there stood Aubrey, grinning as usual. " 'Ey Michael. We're going out on a patrol, you wanna-" Aubrey's words were cut off as Michael opened the door further to reveal Selene standing behind him. Aubrey was in almost as much shock as Michael was. He even blinked a few times, to make sure that he was really seeing what he was seeing.

But Selene had had enough with all these shocked silences. She grabbed her coat, swung it on, and walked over to the door.

" Ready when you are." She said to Michael.

Michael blocked her way through the door.

" What are you doing?" she asked.

" You're staying here." He said firmly.

" What are you talking about? Last time we went on a hunt I came."

" Yeah, and I carried you home while you were unconscious. I'm not letting that happen, not again."

" Michael, I was unprepared last time. I'll be fine."

" And what happens if you're unprepared again this time Selene? I don't want you getting hurt. You're staying here." The last sentence he said even more firmly. He stared into her eyes for a minute before she finally looked away and backed down.

" We'll be back before sunrise." He said as he grabbed his coat and left.

Michael, Aubrey, Jared, Frost, and Nikolas had picked off two-dozen humans that night. Though Michael didn't like it one bit, he was starting to realize that he didn't belong to their species anymore. He had his own. Though, his mortal side still showed through a little bit, as he only allowed them to go after men. No women and defiantly no children. Though two dozen was barely enough to hold the pack over for very long, he decided it was enough for now.

Nikolas, Jared, and Aubrey took the bodies back, careful not to get spotted, as Michael and Frost went on patrol.

" So," Frost began as they peered down from the rooftops of the city. " You and Selene, huh?"

" Yeah, if you could call it that…" Michael said as they moved from roof to roof.

" Lady trouble?"

" You could call it that…"

" I must say, I've never heard of a lycan kickin' it with a vampire since way back Lucian's day."

" Well, I knew I loved her before I became a hybrid, or a lycan even. I just wish I knew is she felt the same way or not."

" Well, the way I see it, women are to complicated to know what they want at any given time. Give her time and maybe she'll come around to you."

Michael looked at Frost. He looked to be in his thirties. He had very broad shoulders and toned features. His eyes were a very deep brown and he had a strong jaw, with spiky brown hair. " Thanks." He said.

" Anytime." Then, something caught Frost's attention. He looked down to a building below the one they were currently on. " Whoa, head's up. Vamps, twelve 'o' clock."

Michael followed Frost's gaze and saw a group of six vampires perched on the same building. If he was still human, he would have easily dismissed them as some of the many grotesque gargoyles that watched over the city, but their scent radiated up to his nose.

" I got the three on the right, you take the three on the left." Frost said.

Michael nodded. He realized this was the first fight he'd be going into without Selene around to help him. He shook his head and they both began to shed their human skin, Frost going into his buff lycan form, and Michael bulking up into his lean, but still very muscular, hybrid form.

They both jumped silently off from the building. They plunged down to the vampires. But to their disadvantage, one of the vamps spotted them and commanded his buddies to open fire.

Michael managed to avoid most of the bullets, though he got his with a few. They were normal silver ones and didn't affect him to the point of immobility, but he was injured. He hit the roof of the building and, with a loud roar, launched himself at the three vampires that were his marks.

Selene was still in the bedroom. She was trying to contemplate what had just happened. Michael had actually beaten her in an argument. It was extremely new to her. She saw Michael as a simple pacifist who would never get firm with anyone. But he did. She wondered if it was simply his lycan instincts taking over or if it was really him. But then, now that she thought about, the lycan was him. It was a part of him now. She shook her head. The only time she had ever seen him do anything like that was when he was fighting. And why had she given up? Why did she stand down? Was it because she really didn't believe she could win, or was it because she was transfixed in Michael's gaze?

Selene shook her head again. She realized her stomach had a weird feeling. It wasn't pain. It was a weird kind of floaty feeling. It made her want to run around. It had just started recently, and it was only happening when she was thinking about, or around Michael. What was happening to her?

Michael was in pain. He was in a lot of pain. He had killed his three marks, but since then, four more had arrived. He was handling them, while Frost was busy taking down his three and avoiding bullets like mad. They had the potential of actually killing Frost, while they only burned Michael badly.

He snapped one vampire's neck while another attacked him from behind. He jumped up in the air and then came back down and landed on his back, stunning the vampire. He avoided a shower of bullets as he ripped the vampire's throat out and moved on to the next one. He could see out of the corner of his eye that Frost had been shot a number of times. Just a few more and he'd be stuck in his human form, and even worse, dead.

Michael knocked the two remaining vampires' heads together with tremendous force and then snapped both their necks. He took a seconds' breather before running over to help Frost. He launched himself onto one vampire's back, clawing at him with all his might until the vampire fell, dead. Then, with he and Frost back to back, they used each other as support and pushed up of the ground, kicking the vampire in front of them, flipped, and found themselves facing each other's opponent. Michael ripped his mark's throat out as Frost snapped the neck of his.

They both were breathing hard and in a lot of pain. But suddenly, something unexpected happened.

Selene, having been fed up with sitting in the bedroom brooding, decided to head down stairs. She looked like one of them now. Now that there was no Death Dealer's garb to separate her from them, she blended in a little better. Most lycan's didn't recognize her at first glance, but then did a double take, and realized who she was. This time, most of the lycan's smiled at her and gave a nod, or greeted her warmly, but there was still those select few that had their bitter feelings, probably spouse's or daughters/sons who had lost a dearly loved one in battle. She let herself smile at the little lycan children moving about and playing with one another. Suddenly a ball came flying at her head, but thanks to her vampire reflexes, she caught it before it even came close. A little boy, probably six years old, came up to her.

" Wow, how'd you do that?" he asked.

She gave a small smile. " Years and years of practice."

" Will I be able to do that one day?"

She looked at him a second. She had a pretty good guess of this child's future. If nothing happened to change the war, he would grow up and fight in it, and probably die young protecting his pack, his family. Selene looked into the young boy's eyes and saw the hope and joy and innocence she remembered from her niece's eyes, they weren't battle worn, having seen to many grotesque things, as hers probably were. She smiled at the boy. "You'll be able to do that, and so, so much more."

The young boy gave her a toothy grin; he was already developing his lycan canines. She smiled back at him and gave him his ball. She was a vampire, and they were lycan's, and yet here she was, walking among them, neither one master nor slave. They were equal. Selene looked around; she actually looked, at each and every single lycan. Suddenly she realized what side she was on, and what she was fighting for…


	17. Plans to Move

Michael helped Frost to his feet. As they turned around they got an unexpected surprise. Though he couldn't quite make out the figure, he could sense the immense power radiating from it. Its scent had the unmistakable mix of lycan and vampire. It was Marcus.

Marcus jumped down from the roof top he was perched upon just seconds ago. He landed soundlessly on his feet in front of Michael and Frost. He was wearing black boots, black pants, a black silk shirt, and the traditional Elder's crimson leather trench coat. He walked up to the barely standing Michael and Frost, clapping his hands.

" Well done you two. But I must say, I expected more from you Michael."

Frost let a growl escape his throat as he lunged at Marcus.

" Frost no!" Michael yelled, but it was too late.

Marcus had Frost by his throat and stared into the lycan's eyes with his impenetrable glare. " I should just kill you right now."

Frost stared back at Marcus rebelliously. If he was going down, he was going down fighting, loyal to the pack, and Michael, until the end.

But Marcus merely smirked and threw Frost, with great force, across the building so that he fell down into the alleyway below, and from the sound that followed, Michael guessed he crashed into a dumpster. This infuriated Michael but he restrained himself from attacking Marcus.

" What do you want from me, Marcus?"

" So you do know me?"

" I know what Selene and the other lycans have told me."

" Hmm, filled the gaps have they?"

" Some, but not all. What are you getting at?"

Marcus chuckled. " Look Michael, I did not come here to fight so you can stand down."

Michael snorted. " You have a damn could way of showing it!" he said as he glanced back to the alley were Frost had been thrown.

" That lycan needed to learn some manners. Anyway, think about it Michael. Why would six of the lesser experienced Death Dealers be sitting on the same building at the same time?"

" Cause they're pansy's?"

Marcus looked amused. " I set a test for you my friend. And you passed with flying colors."

" What are you talking about?" Michael asked defensively.

" I wanted to test your hybrid powers. I wanted to see what I was up against. I expected more, but I suppose because of such weak bloodlines going into you…"

" Selene is not weak! She's the strongest vampire I know! Stronger than Viktor, stronger than you…"

Marcus looked amused. " Funny, you knew I was talking about Selene. That one does have some fire in her, so I'm told. A real spark, an edgy flare some would call it. But, you know that what she's doing right now, she's doing because she's confused right? She doesn't love you, she's just lost and vulnerable."

" That's a lie!"

" Is it now?"

Michael had had enough. He launched himself, still in hybrid form, at Marcus with all the force he could muster. This must have taken Marcus by surprise because he flew backwards. He was still on the ground when Michael ran over and pinned him down. But Marcus fought back. He kneed Michael in the abdomen and let off a strong punch that hit Michael squarely in the jaw.

" She doesn't love you, and she never will! She's not able to love, it's not in her system!" Marcus yelled. He kicked Michael in the stomach and now he was the one on his feet first, holding Michael down, which wasn't hard. Michael was so tired, and this added pain was making it worse. It seemed like her wouldn't make it through…

But suddenly, a shot rang out from nowhere, and a UV bullet hit Marcus right in his heart. Three more hit him, one in the leg, one in the shoulder, and one in the gut. Marcus belted out a yell that was too high for human ears to pick up. Then he screeched. He whirled around in a circle, trying to figure out where the shots came from.

Suddenly, a dark figure jumped down from a building and landed in the shadows. Another gunshot rang out, and this one landed just a centimeter away from Marcus's lung.

Out of the shadows, gun in hand, walked Selene. She had watched the whole thing, and started firing when Marcus said that she didn't love Michael, because somewhere deep inside of her, somewhere hidden deep inside the darkness, she knew that wasn't true.

The bullets became too much for Marcus. He did as much as he could to try and contain the UV rays. They only affected half of his system, half was a half more than he was willing to risk in his still weakened state. He knew this was a bad idea and regretted it instantly, but he pushed a button on a clip on his belt, and a blue light turned on, just above the button.

" A tracer." Selene mumbled to herself. She kept her gun up and ready to fire.

Marcus stumbled over to Michael, his hands up, begging Selene not to shoot. He looked down at Michael, who was only half conscious. " You and I will be in the final battle together Michael. Watch your power, for it may grow to strong for even you to handle. When the final battle actually does begin, it is still left unsaid in the prophecy's which side you will be on. Think about that. We will meet again soon." And with that, Marcus fled to the side of the building and jumped off.

Selene instantly ran over to Michael's side, skidding to a stop right next to him. "Michael? Michael can you hear me? Michael look at me. Keep your eyes on me. Don't take your eyes of me for a second or I'll shoot your brains out, you got it?" Selene pleaded, trying to keep Michael focused on her. If he passed out with this much blood lost, he might not wake back up.

" No… problem." He tried a weak attempt at humor.

Selene of course, did not find this amusing one bit. She was more focused on the extent of Michael's injuries, and how in the hell she was going to bring him back to the den? Suddenly there was a groan behind her and in less then a second she whipped around, guns in hand, only to see that it was a broken Frost coming to assistance.

" What happened here?" Selene asked the broken lycan.

" We spotted some vamps and took 'em out. Then Marcus showed up. Threw me and Michael a beating."

Selene put her guns away and turned back to Michael, who was breathing hard now. This reminded her of being back in the first lycan hide out, sitting by Michael's side after Kraven had shot him. Then Selene knew what she had to do. Slowly she bent her neck down and bit Michael on the neck, sucking the silver out of his system.

Frost looked on as Selene tried to make Michael better. The fresh blood tasted so good in her mouth, even though it was tainted by silver. She wanted it. She wanted it more than anything. But she had to pull back. She'd kill him if she didn't. Half reluctantly, she sat back up and wiped the blood away from her mouth with the back of her hand.

" What happened to Marcus?" Frost asked.

" I shot him a couple of times with the UV bullets. I was hoping they'd work better, but Marcus, even in his weakened state, is still very very strong." Selene became depressed by her own words. It would take a lot of power to kill Marcus, and even more to "end" the war. She was just glad that she didn't have to do it alone.

Frost helped Selene carry Michael back to the den. They traveled by the cities maze of underground tunnels. Frost said that he knew one that lead right to Raze's office.

Suddenly Frost became somewhat confused by the vampire at his side. " You know, I'd never think that you would be willing to trust Michael's and your own safety with a lycan." He said as he kept his gaze ahead of him.

Selene looked at Frost, and then to the ground. " A couple of days ago you would have been right."

" Then why now?"

Selene looked at him again. " Let's just say…I had an epiphany."

" Oh?"

" Yes."

But before she could continue, they came to a dead end. Frost walked up to the end of the tunnel and beat his fist into it. Suddenly, a concrete door opened and rolled to the side, revealing a clearing in the tunnel. They walked across it and over to a door. Frost pushed a button to the side of the door and a little keypad popped out. He typed something in and the door unlocked and opened. They walked through and ended up in the back of Raze's office.

Once there, Michael was quickly aided by Raze, who had taken over as the doctor since Singe's death. They still did not know that Selene aided Viktor in Singe's demise. Selene, subconsciously or not, was holding on to Michael's hand for dear life, she wasn't going to let go.

" It's a good thing you got the silver out of his system when you did. Other wise he'd be even more worse off than he is now." Raze said as he tended to Michael's wounds.

" But he's going to be okay right?" she asked, worry clear in her voice.

Raze looked at her. Maybe she really was starting to care. He had never known a vampire, a death dealer at that, to care about anything. But it seemed like she did. He nodded. " He should be fine in a day or so."

" Let's only hope that the vamps didn't track us here." Frost chimed in.

" I don't think they could even if they wanted to. Lucian had that passageway built especially so injured lycans could get back with out being followed." Raze said as he started to bandage up Michael's wounds. He has pulled eight or nine bullets out of Michael and they were sitting on a tray next to him.

Raze turned to Selene. " He needs to rest. Aubrey has asked for you in his office. Let Michael be, he'll be fine soon enough."

Selene got defensive. " I'm not leaving him."

" Selene, please…" Raze asked in that deep voice of his.

But he didn't know just how stubborn she was. " No. I'm not leaving."

But at that moment, Ravyn walked into Raze's office. " Selene? Aubrey wants to see you, c'mon."

Selene sighed. She looked down at Michael, who had passed out. She reluctantly let go of his hand and, to Raze's relief, followed Ravyn out and down to Aubrey's office.

She stormed in with Ravyn pulling up the rear. " This better be good."

Aubrey looked up at her. " A pleasure to see you too, Selene. But a simple hello does just fine as well."

Selene took a deep breath. " Sorry, I'm just stressed."

" As you should be. I understand we had a run-in with Marcus tonight?"

" Yeah, while the you guys were bringing the stuff back here, Frost and Michael got attacked."

" So that's why they took so long…"

" Yeah. But there's one thing I'm confused by…"

Aubrey raised an eyebrow. " Oh?"

" If Marcus knows that Michael is the key to helping the lycans. He knows that we need Michael as much as Michael needs us. He even had Michael pinned to the ground, why didn't he just kill him then? He had his chance, but he waited. He could have done it so fast but he didn't. I've never actually met Marcus before tonight but I know that he probably wouldn't have let Michael live…unless he had an ulterior motive…" Selene puzzled. She was practically wearing a divot in Aubrey's floor as she paced.

" That could possibly be true, but until we know for sure, I say we lay low for awhile. Until we become more organized, I think we should move the pack."

Selene stopped dead and turned to face Aubrey. " What?"

" Obviously we'll wait until Michael is well enough to travel, and I will ask him, but I just wanted to see what you thought first."

" You think we aren't safe here?" Selene asked.

" Well, I think it would be safer if we moved, secretly though. I don't think the pack is safe in the city. There's another den on the out skirts of town. We'll move them there until it is safe to return. Tonight's battle was way to close to this den for comfort. I want to move the pack just to be safe."

Selene nodded. " But we have to make sure we're not followed. It must be done with the utmost secrecy, or else we might be sending them all into a death trap. I have an idea. When Michael is well, he and I will go scout out this new den. If it's safe, we'll move the pack in small group's, so as not to attract attention."

" Perfect." Aubrey smiled.

" Send out two or three lycans tonight to go along the city's perimeter. Ask them to seek out any place's where the vampire's are keeping vigil. But don't let them attack the vampires. We must not be seen. Ask them to locate the surveillance vampires, and then tell me where they are. We have to avoid them at all costs. If we're seen then Marcus will know where we are in less than a second."

Aubrey stood up straight and gave her a phony salute. " Yes ma'am!"

Selene caught the joke. " At ease, now go."

Aubrey smirked and winked before leaving his office. Selene followed him out. She wanted to go see Michael, but knew she'd probably get kicked out. She would have gone into the common room, but she was starting to get a headache. Out of idea's, she slid into the cafeteria to get some blood. She got a cup, and then headed back to her room. She got walked up the stairs and found Aubrey about to knock on her door.

" Aubrey? What are you doing here? I thought you were getting the lycans together?" she asked.

" I did, but then I figured I should send Ravyn out too. I thought she'd be in your room."

Selene opened the door and found Ravyn watching TV. " Hey Ravyn, Aubrey was looking for you." She said.

" He was?"

" Yeah," Said Aubrey from the doorway. " I need you to do something for me."

Ravyn got up and went with Aubrey, leaving Selene alone. She sighed, sipping her blood. She had nothing else to do but sleep, so she did. She finished her blood and lay down in the bed. She was alone for the first time in weeks, and she didn't like it. She didn't like the fact that Michael wasn't right next to her. She didn't like the fact that she couldn't fall asleep to the sound of his soft breathing. She didn't like that she couldn't feel the heat from his body right next to her. She sighed and got up. She walked out of the room, down the stairs and through the hallways, eventually finding herself at Raze's door. She knocked quietly.

Raze opened and looked at her. Before she could say anything, he stepped aside.

Selene walked over to the cot that Michael was placed on. With his shirt gone, his wounds were visible all over his torso. He hadn't moved since the last time she saw him.

Selene pulled up a chair next to his bed. Raze had gone in search of food, and it was just her and Michael. She took his hand in both of hers, glad to feel his warmth. It was quite seducing, really. When you've felt nothing but the cold for so long, and are now finally feeling the warmth, it was intoxicating. Selene carefully made it so the back of his hand was resting against her cheek, as she held it there. She closed her eyes, the sleep finally taking over her. She laid her head to rest on a small portion of Michael's cot, his hand still in hers.


	18. The Attack

Selene opened her eyes to the gentle stroking of he hand. She lifted her head and saw Michael looking at her and smiling. She was so happy he was awake. Before she could stop herself, she lunged and hugged him. She took him by so much surprise that he was now pinned to his cot, with her halfway on top of him. He wrapped his arms around her, causing her to lean in more on his damaged torso. But he didn't care. He was about as happy to see her, as she was him.

But after a moment or two, she did pull away, sitting back in her chair.

" Happy to see me I guess?" he asked with a smile on his face.

" You have no idea. You missed a lot." She admitted.

" I know. Aubrey filled me in."

There was silence as Selene looked down. Finally she looked back at him, a question eating at her. " Michael…" she began.

" Yeah?"

" …You know what Marcus said…you know that it's not true, right? About me not loving you…?" she was having such a hard time saying it, but she knew it had to come out. She had to say it, because she knew now that it really was true.

" It's not?" he asked, the hope seeping from his voice.

She shook her head. " No. I see it know Michael, and I know it really is true. From when I first saw you that day at the subway station, I knew it. Then I denied it, but when I thought I had lost you last night, it was the worst feeling in the world. I don't ever want to feel that again, Michael…"

He looked at her. He couldn't believe it. Selene was feeling, she was feeling for him. He had always hoped this would happen, but now that it finally had, he was speechless. He literally could not speak. All he could do was act.

Slowly he leaned over to Selene, getting closer and closer to her. She met him halfway with a kiss. It was simple at first, but then it progressed. Her tongue pushed threw his lips and was met with his own. Selene wrapped her hands around Michael, wanting more heat. She ended up on his cot. He pulled away from her mouth, roaming around her neck and across her breastbone. Feeling aroused, her eyes changed to their ice blue, and she did what a vampire was expected to do; she bit into Michael's neck, and he bit back…

Aubrey was in his office talking with Raze about the move, when he felt it. As did Raze. They looked at each other, eyebrows raised. There was an enormous amount of heat and energy coming from the recovery area in Raze's office. It spread…

Ravyn was in the common room when she felt it. As did Jared and Frost, who she was talking with. The energy and heat radiated through the den. It was so strong, which worried Ravyn a bit. If they could sense it, surely any nearby vampires could.

It was around an hour before the heat finally died down, and another hour before anyone dared go into Raze's office, even Raze himself…

Michael stared up at the ceiling. He had his arm around Selene, who was asleep. He was stroking her bare shoulder, as both of their clothing had been cast aside a while ago. Now they lay under a blanket. He felt a twinge from his neck, where Selene's new bite mark had finally stopped bleeding. He felt bad about biting her though, hoping he didn't cause her any pain. He felt refreshed, his senses heightened. It was because of this that he heard someone approaching the door.

There was a knock. Quickly, but quietly, as to not disturb Selene, Michael got out of the caught and put his boxers and jeans back on. He walked over to the door and opened it, revealing Aubrey, with Raze behind him.

" Michael, it's time." Aubrey said.

" Yes, and if it's okay with you, I'd like my office back." Raze added.

Michael nodded. " Give me a minute." He closed the door and walked back over to Selene. He felt bad about waking her up, but he knew that they had to leave. He shook her and her eyes fluttered open.

" Michael? What?"

" We have to go, it's time."

She got dressed quickly, and they left Raze in his office.

" So what did the team find out?" Selene asked Aubrey as they walked down to his office.

" There are several locations around the perimeter of town where surveillance teams are set up. There's one right near the spot where you guys have to pass, so be careful there. Otherwise than that the coast is clear. I wrote down the direction to the den, and Ravyn was kind enough to draw a detailed map. Just follow that and you should be there and back by morning two days from now, providing you don't run in to any trouble. I put together some things you'll be needing for your travels, blood, medical equipment, and stuff like that." Aubrey said as he handed them the papers, and bag of stuff. " Also, Selene, I took the liberty of getting your guns cleaned and reloaded. There's extra ammo in that pack if you need it." Aubrey handed Selene her holster and guns.

" Thanks Aubrey." She took it from him.

" Well, you two seemed kind of busy to I figured I'd do it." Aubrey smirked.

Michael and Selene exchanged bashful glances with each other, and then looked away.

Aubrey handed Michael a shirt and gave them both their trench coats. " All set?"

Michael looked at Selene who nodded. " I guess so."

"Aright then." Aubrey said as he led them to a secret tunnel. He opened a door in the floor that led down underground. " Just go down here. Keep going until you can feel yourself going up hill. Once you do, look around, there should be a door. Go through there, and that will lead you up some stairs and up through a cellar door. Be careful once you're there. The cellar door is right by those vamps I told you about earlier. They're position on top of a building looking out of a wide meadow. The meadow is filled with tall crops, so you can stand up, but just be careful about how you move. There are traps so keep your eyes peeled. Don't run and don't make any big movements, or else you'll be seen for sure. Once you're in the woods, you should be safe, but keep your guard up. When you need to stop to rest, go up in shady trees that'll make it hard to be seen from below and above. The den is well hidden in the deepest part of the forest, so use your nose, Michael. You'll find it. It has a smell only lycans can pick up."

" Alright."

Aubrey patted Michael on the back. " As for the rest, you're on your own. See you two in a couple of days."

Michael and Selene nodded. The made one last check to make sure they had everything. Then they were ready. Michael let Selene jump down first.

" See you soon." Michael said as he jumped down as well.

The door above them shut and they were left in such thick darkness, even Michael couldn't see right away. He felt Selene's hand grab his. They didn't move as they waited for their eyes to adjust. But even when they did, they could only barely make each other out. Selene didn't like the feeling of being blind, but knowing that Michael was there calmed her a little. They could hear drops of water from somewhere, and Michael's breathing seemed like it was the loudest thing in the world. Their footsteps echoed in the eerie silence.

They walked for a while. Selene was the first to sense that they were going up hill. She told Michael. They felt around for a door, and when they found it, the opened it. It was a little lighter in this area, but any human would be disoriented still by the darkness. Michael found the stairs first, tripping on them. Selene helped him up.

" Selene, why don't you stay down here while I open the door. The sun could still be up."

" Alright, but be careful. Aubrey never said exactly how far away the surveillance team was…"

Michael took a deep breath. He reached up and felt the handle for the cellar door. He opened it a crack, and the dull light of dusk hit him. The sun was hidden behind a hill, and only it's harmless cast off light remained. He turned around and reached for Selene's hand. She grabbed it, and silently they came out of the cellar. Selene sensed the vampires immediately. They were stationed on a rooftop of a house no more than a block away. The building hid them for now, but there was a little less than a fourth of a mile of open land before they reached the safety of the crop field. And by open, she meant open, not a tree, or a bush, or anything.

Selene turned to Michael. " We have to make a run for it."

" Are you kidding me? They'll see us for sure."

" Well, I'm not so sure about you, but they'll defiantly see me. I'm fast, but not as fast as you."

Michael looked at her. " I'll run with you."

Michael peered out from around the building. A vampire stood looking out of the meadow. Then he turned around to watch the street. Michael turned to Selene. " We have to go now."

Selene stuffed the papers in her pocket and Michael slung the pack over his shoulder.

" Wait for it…" Michael said. The vampire was looking back over the field again, and then he went back to looking over the street. " Now!"

On his word, they sprinted across the open field. Michael could have run faster, but he dared not leave Selene behind. They ran as fast as they could, finally skidding into the crop field. But they hit the stalks of wheat and it made a shaking noise. Luckily, it stopped as the vampire turned around. He was like a light tower, rotating in a circle every few minutes.

Michael and Selene moved carefully now, and very slowly, trying not to move the stalks. Finally they found a walkway that separated the different sections of wheat and what have you. But soon, they ran into their first trap.

There were trip wires running across the walkway. They never would have seen them if it weren't for the moon. They glinted in the silvery light, looking almost like a spider web would. Only these ran horizontally, and whet up and down at different lengths on top of each other (Like lines of latitude.)

Michael and Selene took their coats off, and Selene was glad she had found a new leather suit. They threw the pack, their coats, and Selene's holster over the wires, where they landed in a pile on the other side. They had no idea what would happen if they so much as even touched one of these wires, and they weren't about to take and chances.

Michael went through first. He had to crouch and go in to odd positions so he didn't touch any wires. He went through slowly, and finally got to the end, breathing a sigh of relief.

Now it was Selene's turn. She went through the trip wires like there was nothing to it. With the grace and agility of a cat, she glided through it like she had done it a million times before. That is, until she go to the last two wires. The inertia caught up with her and she barely missed the second to last one, but she ran into the last one. They heard a click and Selene stopped dead. Nothing had happened, but she still didn't move. She knew that if she eased off the wire, it would set off and explosive.

Michael was on it. He moved their stuff back a bit. Then he walked over to Selene. He peered over the crops and saw a vampire looking at a lab top, and then he whipped his head in their direction. Michael hit the ground as fast as he could.

" I think you set off a sensor." He whispered.

" Get me out of here, Michael. Hurry."

Michael nodded his head. He wrapped his arms around her, and using his hybrid speed, he pulled her out and before they knew it, they were a couple of feet back, and a land mine exploded. Dust, earth, debris, and fire exploded into the air. There were shouting voices and Michael and Selene had no choice but to escape into the crops. They grabbed their stuff and ran away closer to the forest.

They were running, but suddenly Selene stopped.

" Selene! What are you doing?" Michael whispered as he came back to her.

" Give me some blood."

" What?"

" Just do it."

Michael sighed and quickly rummaged through the pack and handed Selene a cylinder of blood. She took it and opened the top. She chucked some around the spot they were in, spraying it on the crops and the ground. The warm blood steamed on contact with the cold earth. Selene then chucked the container as far away as possible, and then turned back to Michael.

" We have to make a run for the forest."

He nodded and they took off, running as fast as they could. The forest seemed so close, but they weren't covering ground that fast.

" What was that for?" Michael panted as he ran along side Selene.

" They will follow the blood until they realize it's not us. I bought us some time."

Suddenly there was I shout from a male voice. " I see them! Look!"

"But apparently not enough!" Selene whispered as she picked up the pace. A gunshot rang out, and Michael stumbled to the ground. But he was on his feet quickly and running after Selene. The last stretch to the forest seemed like it took forever. Another shot was fired, and this time Selene was the one who fell. Michael skidded to and went back to her.

" Selene!" he whispered.

She sat up, but was in obvious pain. More shots came, only this time they hit Michael. He hit the ground as the vampires entered the clearing. There was about ten of them.

" Well, well, well, look what we got here. Does that look like a traitor and her pet dog to you, Mark?"

" Sure does, Jimmy."

The vampire identified as Jimmy kicked Selene across the face.

The one identified as Mark, slugged Michael square in the jaw.

Jimmy looked down his nose at Selene. " You know, I used to look up to you Selene. You were the best Death Dealer our coven ever had. But then you had to run off with your pet puppy over here. You gave it all up, for what, love?" He kicked her again. Michael was infuriated, but a shot in the spinal cord had him paralyzed. " You're a disgrace, and I'm going to have so much pleasure in bringing you back to Marcus. But first, I'm going to see what all the fuss is about, and your little puppy is going to watch as we have our way with you." Jimmy grinned evilly. This remark earned a cheer from his male counterparts. " And when we're done, you'll be begging for Marcus to kill you."

Michael could only watch with several guns trained on his forehead, and Selene's, as Jimmy picked Selene up to her knees, and took off her trench coat, slowly un zipping the back of her suit.

Michael could feel himself losing to his alter ego. The rage burning inside him was so great, like a fire that engulfed him. Selene could see it burning in his eyes. She hated to admit it, but this might have been the only way to set them free. She made eye contact with Michael. She nodded.

That was all he needed.

In a flash, Michael was gone, and the Hybrid was back. He was in his true form and in the air before anyone could stop him. He landed behind Mark and broke his neck. A reign of bullets started coming at him, only the bullets weren't as fast as he was. He moved out of the way and hand the gun out of all of their hands, and was taking them all on.

This caught Jimmy by surprise and Selene had enough time to kick him in the nuts. She quickly zipped her suit back up and put her trench coat on, but then she felt something hard hit the back of her head, as Jimmy belted the butt of his gun across the back of her head. She hit the ground.

It was literally raining blood as the Hybrid clawed and scratched every body part that came close to him. He was ripping and shredding chunks out of the vampires. But they were stubborn little morons. They kept coming at him and jumping on top of him, but he was just as stubborn. He sank his teeth into one of them, but instead of enjoying his meal, he ripped the vampire's throat out. He was getting soaked in blood as he slaughtered them all, giving true meaning to the term 'blood bath.' He enjoyed himself greatly. But then all the vampires were dead, and the fun stopped. All accept one. The Hybrid turned around to where Jimmy and Selene were before, but now they were nowhere in sight.

Jimmy held his automatic pistol to Selene's head as he backed away. But the Hybrid pursued them.

" Now listen up, puppy. I know you don't want her dead. Come after me, and I'll shoot her brains out, got it!" Jimmy shouted.

Selene winced at the force with which was being slammed against her temple. But Jimmy didn't know how much of a mistake he was making. She had Michael's scent now. In lycan terms, she was now the alpha's mate. And if she were being threatened, the alpha would show no mercy in the slaughter of the one who was trying to hurt her. She just hoped that Michael would come back before the Hybrid turned on her as well.

Selene heard rustling all about them. She knew the Hybrid was just trying to make Jimmy scared. And boy, was it working. The fear coming off Jimmy was enough to make her throw up.

The rustling stopped. Jimmy became even more nervous as he kept backing up. But suddenly, he backed up right into the Hybrid. Jimmy flailed around with Selene, showing the Hybrid that he was ready to shoot her.

But the Hybrid slashed his claws over Selene's face with enough force to through her body aside, and out of the way. Then he quickly moved in before Jimmy could shoot and sank his fangs into Jimmy's throat. He ripped Jimmy's throat out, spraying blood everywhere.

In the lycan world, this was the ultimate insult. This meant that Jimmy wasn't even worth the savoring of his blood. The Hybrid slaughtered him sadistically for sport, not for the hunt. This would anger Marcus greatly, this, a mark of true defiance.

But like she feared, the Hybrid then turned on to Selene. She looked at him, the four scars on her cheek bleeding down onto her neck. The Hybrid let out a growl from the back of his throat as he stood over Selene. She backed away feebly, not being about to get to her feet under his mighty glare. She felt like a deer, caught in a wolf's stare. She couldn't run away, he wasn't letting her. The aura pulsated off him, she could all but see it, in all of its dark, mysterious horror.

He growled again as he slammed his fist across her face, sending her flying. He was on her in an instant, hitting her again. The power inside him was all too great. He picked her body up off the ground and threw it.

Selene hit the ground hard. She could hear him coming. She quickly pulled out her gun, but what could she do? Shooting him would only infuriate him even more. Then she got it.

The Hybrid burst into the clearing and lunged at Selene. But she quickly jumped into the air, dodging his attack. She landed on her feet, but then sank to her knees. She whirled around. The Hybrid lunged at her. She put her gun to her temple. He stopped dead in his tracks.

" Michael! Michael I know you're in there! It's me! It's Selene!"

Still keeping her gun to her temple she walked over to the Hybrid and put her hand over his nose.

" Smell me! Take in my scent! I am a part of you now! You and I are the same!" she shouted.

The Hybrid stopped. With Selene's hand over his snout, he had no choice but to breath in her scent. She smelled like him. She was his.

The Hybrid shrank back and Michael came back again. The cold black eyes melted into soft blue and Michael came back to his human form.

Selene dropped her gun and sank to her knees, no longer able to stand. But she opened her eyes with surprise when she didn't hit the ground. Michael had caught her, and laid her down softly.

" Oh Selene, I'm so sorry." He said hoarsely.

She smiled at him, touching his cheek with her hand. " It wasn't you Michael. It's okay. It wasn't you."

Michael collected the rest of their stuff. He cleaned up the scratch marks on Selene's face. He hoped they weren't permanent. He slung the bag on his back and then carried Selene threw the forest.

When he picked up the scent of something new in the forest, he followed it until it led him to an old tree. He found that it was hollow, and opened a secret door that led him down some stairs into the den. They rested there that night, finding that it was safe for the rest of the pack. Michael laid Selene down in a bed they would share, and laid next to her, keeping one arm protectively around her all morning.

Selene woke up with the warmth surrounding her, she felt around for Michael's hand, only to find that it wasn't there. She head noise's coming from the bathroom in their room. He was in there. But she still felt warm. She couldn't explain it. She walked over to the mirror mounted on bureau. She had to do a double take. Her normally ivory pale skin was a little bit flushed.

Selene narrowed her eyes at this. She felt warmer than she should have, warmer than was normal for a vampire. She sighed, assuming it was probably just from her excursion yesterday, but somewhere in the back of her mind, she didn't think it was.

Michael walked out of the bathroom, smelling fresh from his shower.

" Did you save me any hot water?" Selene asked him.

" Of course." He smiled, walking over to her and wrapping his arms around her. She partook in the embrace, which struck him as odd, but he didn't say anything. " Hurry up though. We don't need Aubrey sending a search party out for us."

Selene pulled a fresh new leather suit out from the bag. " Technically we still have one more day. I guess he over estimated the time we'd need."

" Either that or it's the fact that we ran most of the way here."

Selene took her shower and dressed. When she was done they left, feeling safer this time, even daring to have a conversation, though they still whispered.

" Do you still think it's a good idea to move the pack?" Michael asked.

" Yeah, don't you?"

" Well, look at all the trouble we went through to get here. Not to mention we have to hunt farther away. We could be found easier. We'll be right under the vampire's noses, they're bound to see us eventually."

" Yes. But the vampires are going to find us eventually anyway. I'd just rather it be in the out skirts of town as opposed to right in town."

Michael considered this. " Yeah I guess you're right."

" And besides, at least this time we have the element of surprise on our hands. We can lure Marcus into a trap without him even knowing it's a trap. If we successfully move the lycans without Marcus's knowledge, then he'll still think we're back in the city. He won't know that there would be a hundred or so lycan's waiting in the shadows."

Michael smiled. " I'm so glad you're here. I'm so glad we're here."

Selene looked into Michael's deep blue orbs. She smiled. " Me too…"


	19. Author's Note

Hello all. I am so sorry for the wait. There is no excuse for making you guys wait that long. I was watching an interesting show on TV last night, and it got me back into the Underworld groove. Here are two chapters and maybe one more this weekend. (Four-day weekends rock!) I do plan on finishing this story before the ACTUAL sequel comes out. Thank you all for waiting this long, and thank you punk-death-dealer for reviewing every single one of my chapters in one night. You have no idea how good it felt to come home after a bad day to that. You kick ass! And so do all of the rest of my reviewers. It's been a long journey, but we are finally coming down to the last stretch. I expect about six or seven more chapters. Thank you all for sticking with me thus far. I'll see you soon!

Ravyn


	20. The Move

The journey back to the city was much easier than the one to the den was. Michael and Selene found themselves traveling back through the underground tunnel in no tie. Not to say that they weren't looking over their shoulders.

Selene hated the feeling of being watched. She hated feeling like the prey as opposed to the predator. She only hoped she wouldn't have to feel that way long. Once they got the pack moved in to the safety of the new den, they could focus on Marcus and the vampires, and the sooner they did that, the sooner they could end this war once and for all. It was amazing how just one person could make her change her whole view on the world in just a single night. Now that Selene was with Michael, and Viktor was dead, she was getting tired. And not physically, just tired, tired of the war, and tired of fighting. She used to live for it, she would wake up every night ready to fight, but now she was sick of it. Mind you, she'd keep going strong until the final battle played out. But she tried to imagine what would happen after the war was done. She tried to imagine her life.

They walked through the secret passageway the lead into the back of Raze's office. Michael opened the door and Selene walked in. The office was empty.

They went down to Aubrey's office. Michael knocked on the door. There was no reply.

There was a lot of noise coming from the common room. They walked in and what they saw shocked them.

There was blood and bodies everywhere. About forty out of the one hundred or so lycans were dead. Those that were still alive moved about the bodies weeping. Children cried, women wailed, and men sulked.

Selene was awe stricken by the entire thing. It was a devastating scene. Suddenly, she felt something wrap around her leg. It was the little boy from a few days earlier. The one who Selene gave the ball to. She bent down to her knees.

" My mother…my father…they're not getting up…" he cried.

Selene looked over to where the boy was pointing. The boy's parents were dead on the ground, bleeding profusely. Selene took the boy's hand in her own. She didn't say anything. What could she say? That everything was fine, that everything would be okay? It obviously wasn't fine, and it wasn't going to be okay. Not for a long time.

Aubrey ran up to Selene and Michael. " Thank Lucian you two are safe! We assumed you were dead!"

Michael looked around, horrified. " What happened?"

"A group of vampires attacked not two hours after sunset. We held them off and chased them away, but they killed off a little less than half the pack." Aubrey said. He was bleeding from various places on his body, but he looked for the most part okay.

Selene turned to Aubrey, still holding the boy's hand. " We're going to have to move sooner than we planned."

" And in bigger groups." Added Michael. " The sooner we leave the better."

Everything was in chaos. Michael tried to get the remnants of the pack together and to pay attention but none of them were listening. Fed up, Michael walked over and pulled one of Selene's guns out of her holster.

" Hey…" she started, but she was silenced as Michael fired three shots into the air.

Everyone fell silent and looked at him.

Michael jumped up on a crate to elevate himself so he could be seen and heard. " Listen, everyone. I know what happened here was a tragedy. I know you are hurt and you're mad, but we need to calm down right now."

" How would you know what we need? While you were out with the vampire, this happened!" somebody shouted out.

" Just listen, please." Michael reasoned.

" Why should we? You weren't even here to protect us! Some leader you are!" a woman cried out.

" Yeah!" someone else agreed.

" Everyone just shut up and listen to me for one god damn minute!" Michael yelled. This silenced the rebellious outbursts. " What Selene and I were doing was making sure that a new location was safe enough to move the pack to. We obviously cannot stay here. Marcus will be back to finish us off, for sure. Aubrey, Selene, Ravyn, and I have been making plans to move you guys to a safer location."

" When were you going to tell us!" came a yell.

" I'm telling you now." Michael responded.

" I'm not leaving. Let them come! This is my home and I'm willing to die protecting it!" someone shouted.

Selene jumped up on to the box. " We can't stay here. We'll be slaughtered for sure. You can choose to trust us and move to a new location, or you can stay here and die like cattle. I know it doesn't seem like it now, but we can win this war. But we can't do it here and we can't do it now. We're not asking you to risk your lives for us, but we are asking you to trust us with yours." The little lycan boy came running up and clenched to Selene's leg like his immortal life depended on it. Selene looked down at him, then to the crowd. " Look at this boy. A few days ago he was playing happily with his friends, and now his parents are dead. If we all stay here, we're basically telling him he had nothing to live for but death. He has nothing to look forward to. He might as well end his own life before Marcus and the death dealers do it for him. But if we move to this new den, he might actually have a chance to grow up. He might actually live to see the end of the war. We all will. But if you don't trust us to lead the way, you might as well end your own lives right now. But if you just trust us, and follow us, we can lead the way to a new world. A world where vampires and lycans live in peace. I'm not saying you'll all make it, because that's doubtful. But what I am offering is a chance, a chance to survive, a chance to live on past this war, to a better life."

The crowd absorbed Selene's words.

Michael smiled at her, and then looked back to the crowd. " All of you willing to move, come to Raze's office in a half an hour. All of you wanting to stay, well, stay. And maybe we'll see you around."

Michael and Selene jumped off the crate. Selene picked the boy up in her arms and carried him with her to Raze's office.

Aubrey came up to Selene. " That was amazing. Truly. Could not have done a better job if I had rehearsed it."

" Thanks Aubrey. But it's easy to speak that way if it's coming from the heart." She said to him, and then she and Michael turned to the little boy who was sitting on a stool.

" So I never got a chance to ask you, what's your name?" Selene asked the little lycan boy. He had dark brown hair that was reaching down to his eyes. He had a fair skin tone and was tall and strong for a six year old.

" Damian." He said.

" Oh, well hello Damian. I'm Selene and this is Michael." She said to him.

Damian smiled. " I already know who you two are. My mommy and daddy talked about you a lot. They thought it was really great, what you were doing."

Michael smiled. " So Damian, are you going to move with us?"

Damian's eyes lit up like only a child's could. " Yes!"

This gave Michael and Selene a smile. " And maybe one day, you could even be a leader of your own pack." Michael said.

Damian got very, very excited as he smiled. " Could I really?" he asked, hope in every edge of his voice.

Michael looked at Selene. Selene replied. " Sure you could. No doubt. Would you like that?"

" Would I ever!" Damian replied.

Aubrey smiled as he came in. " He reminds me of me when I was his age. He's got all the traits of a good leader."

They talked with Damian for a while. It passed the time. Finally Raze came up and announced that it had been a half an hour. Nobody came. It was only Michael, Selene, Damian, Aubrey, Ravyn, Raze, Frost, and Jared in the room.

Fifteen minutes later there was a knock on the door. Michael walked over and opened it. He stood aside as about twenty lycans walked in. A little while later, about thirty lycans came in. And a couple of minutes after that, about ten more came in.

Michael got up in front of them. " It's good to see you all. Now this is how we're going to do this. We'll wait until morning, that way the vampires can't follow us. Then Aubrey and I will lead groups of ten over to the new den. By the time we get to the last group it will be dusk, so Selene and Ravyn can bring up the rear. Then once you all are settled in, one other lycan and I will go make sure covered our tracks. We should be all done the move by morning the day after tomorrow. Everyone got it?"

There were mumbles of yes. But suddenly, a huge explosion came from the common room. Ravyn ran out to see what it was, and then she came back.

" They're back!" she shouted.

" Okay, no one panic! Keep quiet and still!" Michael half yelled, half whispered.

Aubrey came up to Michael. " We'll have to do this faster than we thought. We have to get everyone out of here, in larger groups. There's about sixty lycans. I guess we'll split them up in halves."

Aubrey nodded.

Michael turned back to the group, who quivered with fear. Michael turned back to Aubrey. " Our group will have to go the long way around." Aubrey nodded.

Michael turned once again to the group. " Everyone, listen! New plan! Instead of groups of six, we're going in two separate groups. Ravyn and Selene's group will go first; while we hold them off, then our group will bring up the rear. Now, all of those willing to fight stand over here, and everyone else stand over on the opposite side! Quick!"

Selene, with Damian in her arms, ran up to Michael. " I don't like this plan, Michael!"

Michael looked at her. " Selene, just go, okay? We'll be fine. You need someone to get them off your trail. Frost and Aubrey will bring up the second group."

" What are you going to do?"

" I'm going to try to through them off your scent. Try to be as confusing as possible, okay? Back track as much as you can, but mainly just get there."

" Michael, I'm not leaving here without you."

" Selene, please. If something does happen to us, the pack needs a leader. They need someone they can trust. That someone is you Selene. Please, just go. I'll see you by sunrise, I promise!"

" You promise."

" Cross my heart."

Selene reluctantly nodded. She leaned in and they shared one passionate kiss.

Michael looked at her. " Now go."

She nodded and went over to Ravyn. Luckily the way it worked out, she had about thirty or forty lycans in her group, which still left enough to fight. " Everyone follow Ravyn!" she shouted as Ravyn led the way down into the under ground tunnel.

Selene watched as Damian went down the hole, and then she turned around and gave one last glance at Michael and the brave lycans who stayed behind. She heard Damian called her name. She looked at Michael. " Michael!" she called out.

He looked up at her.

She hesitated a moment before calling out to him. " I love you!"

Michael smiled. " I love you too!"

And with that, she smiled, and jumped down the hole.

Michael, Aubrey, Frost, Jared, and the twenty or thirty brave lycans who stayed behind did their best to barricade the door. Raze had gone down the tunnel to see if the vampires were anywhere else that was dangerously close to the group that had just left.

They used everything they could find. They put anything against the door. Desks, cots, bookcases, chairs, everything.

Raze came back up. "I didn't see, hear, or smell any. I think they're all here."

" Makes sense." Frost said. " They probably still think we're all cowering here in corners with our tails between our legs."

" Not today or any other day. Today we fight." Michael said as he loaded an automatic pistol with UV bullets. All of the lycans were stalking up on guns and ammo. Luckily, Raze's office also served as an armory.

" Amen to that." Jared said.

Aubrey looked to Michael.

" What?" Michael asked.

" Nothing." Replied Aubrey.

" Why were you staring at me then?" Michael asked.

Aubrey shook his head. " It's just…you've come a long way, Michael Corvin. Lucian would be proud."

Selene and Ravyn had the group of lycans move as swiftly and as quietly as possible. It only took one noise to alert the vampires to where they were. She had them back track a few times, to confuse their scents and mix them together. They avoided the trip wires, and were in the forest in no time.

Selene decided they should slow the pace down. That way, those who were falling behind could catch up. Aubrey was right when he said that Damian possessed the traits of a true leader. Damian kept up with the set pace, and he never complained. In fact, he even helped bring back some of the lycans that were wandering astray. He was the first one to sense that they were close to the den. Selene only hoped that she could help raise Damian, to watch him grow up, like she never could with her own nieces. She wanted to take Damian under her wing, adopt him as her son. She was so proud of him already. She just hoped that Michael and the others were doing okay.

The vampires had broken in to the common room now. They had yet to break in to the office yet, though.

" You think we should make a run for it?" Jared asked.

" Yeah, should we, before they actually discover that we're in here?" Frost added.

" I dunno, do you think Selene and the others are far enough away, yet?" Michael asked Aubrey.

" They should be. It's been at least an hour." Aubrey replied.

" Okay, here's what we're going to." Michael started." Aubrey, and the rest of you, take all of the ammo and food you can with you. Fill all of these bags with as much as you possibly can." Michael said, pointing to the backpacks and duffel bags. "While you guys are heading to the den, I'll try to draw the vampires away from you for as long as possible."

" No, man, I'm staying with you." Aubrey said.

" You sure?" Michael asked.

" Me too." Said Frost. " We're both sure."

Michael smiled. " Okay. Jared, you know how to get to the new den?"

Jared nodded. " Yeah, I do."

" Okay, then you'll lead these guys there. Remember to try and back track and stuff like that. Mix all of your scents together into one chaotic mess. They can't smell nearly as good as we can anyway." Michael said.

Everybody went to work gathering their things and shoving everything the needed into bags. Michael, who was the last one, was just about to jump down the whole when he heard a bang from the door. They were trying to get through. Michael looked up. There was a fancy curtain hanging from the ceiling with Celtic designs and what have you. Michael raised his gun and shot at the rope holding the thing up. Then fast as he could he jumped down the hole, slamming the hatch behind him, and the curtain fell over top of it. That bought them about ten minutes, tops.

It had been about a half an hour since the first group arrived at the new den. It was almost dawn and the second group had yet to arrive. Damian was playing with other children, and Selene was pacing around all over the place. The other lycans were getting settled in, and waiting for the others as well.

Selene was worried about Michael. Thousands and thousands of worst-case scenario's played through her head as the time passed. She scolded herself for worrying so much. She reminded herself that when she was a Death Dealer, she would be focusing on the war and how to end it. But then she shook her head. She wasn't a Death Dealer. Not anymore. She was a vampire fugitive, and a leader to the lycans.

Selene became very dizzy and light headed. Had to stop her pacing as she stumbled over to the nearest chair.

" You okay, Selene? You look very flushed." Came Ravyn's concerned voice.

" I'm fine. It must be all of this activity and stress." She said to her friend.

" Don't worry. I'm sure they'll be here soon." Came Ravyn's not-so-assuring reply.

Selene looked at herself in the mirror. Ravyn was right. Selene had never seen so much color in her cheeks for a long, long time. But she had no solution for why she felt so sick. She couldn't think of any reason. She hoped Michael would get there soon.

Suddenly there were sounds of footsteps from the common room. Selene rushed out there. All of the lycans had returned except for Frost, Aubrey, and of course, Michael.

" Where are they?" she asked as she asserted herself in front of them.

" They were bringing up the rear, making sure we didn't leave any tracks. The vampires caught up to our group so Frost, Michael, and Aubrey fell back. We lost them in the crop fields. Michael ordered us to go ahead without them, so we did." Jared said.

Selene sighed. _Why does he have to be so damn heroic?_

Michael was crouching in the crop field, flanked a couple feet back by Frost and Aubrey. He waited for the remaining vampires to walk by, he dared them even. He noticed they were very close to where the initial massacre from the day before was.

There was a crunching sound from a vampire. He walked close enough so that Michael could shoot him, but suddenly he felt the muzzle of a gun on his temple.

" Drop it." Came a deep voice. Michael looked up and saw a vampire.

But before he dropped his gun, he felt the gun get taken off his temple as the vampire whipped around to shoot Frost, who was making a lunge at him.

" Frost!" Michael yelled out. He attacked the vampire, breaking his neck in one swift motion. He ran over to where Frost was laying on the ground gasping, silver seeping through his blood stream.

Some other vampires came towards Michael, but Aubrey took them down, but got slashed in the chest by a silver blade.

Aubrey staggered over to Michael. " Michael c'mon! We have to go before the other's catch up!"

" Help me!" Michael shouted. They weren't far from the den. If he could just get Frost back there, he could help him. The silver was spreading slowly. He had a chance.

" Michael just leave him!" Aubrey commanded.

Michael looked Aubrey in the eye. " Aubrey, either help me bring him back or go on without me! I'm not leaving Frost behind!"

Aubrey looked around, deciding if he should go or not. But then he got down and got one of Frost's arms. He wrapped it around his neck, and Michael got the other side. Slowly but surely, they made there way back to the den.

Selene had resumed her pacing by the time she heard the hatch open again. She rushed out to the common room, only to be pointed in the direction of the medical office. She burst through the door, to find Michael working on Frost.

" Michael!" she said with relief. Besides a bleeding gash on his head, he looked to be okay.

Michael looked up for a second. " Frost got shot by a silver nitrate bullet." He said as he tried to pull the slug out of Frost's chest. " Selene, is there anyway we can extract the silver from his system?"

Selene thought quickly. " It would have to be sucked out, but even then, he would loose to much blood to recover."

" Is there any other way?" Michael shouted.

Selene thought as fast as she could. She looked to Michael. " He would have to be injected with your blood, and a vampires blood. That would make him a hybrid, and he might be able to fight off the silver, but I'm not sure if it would work fast enough to save his life…"


	21. The Messiah

Michael puncture the vein in his arm viciously, not even bothering to disinfect the area first. Quickly he drew the blood out of his system, as did Selene. He knew she wasn't so sure about this, but at the moment he didn't care. Frost was his friend and he wouldn't let him die. Finally the syringe was filled up. He turned to Selene. " Ready?"

Selene took the syringe out of her own arm and nodded. " Ready." She said. The confidence in her voice hid her dizziness. _What's wrong with me?_

Michael walked over to Frost. " Alright Frost. I'm going to inject you with my blood, okay? And then Selene is going to inject you with hers. You'll become a hybrid, just like me, and you'll be able to live. Okay?" he said frantically.

Aubrey looked at Ravyn nervously. Only Michael thought this was a good idea.

Ravyn sighed. " Michael, are you absolutely sure you want to do this?"

" Of course!" he said. Then he looked at her. " Why?"

Ravyn shook her head. " I don't know. This just…doesn't feel right."

Michael narrowed his eyes. He turned to Aubrey and look upon him.

Aubrey put his hands up. " I don't know man…seems really risky."

Michael then turned to Selene.

Selene looked at him, then to Frost, then to him again. " I don't want him to die any more than you do, Michael, but I've always been one to trust my gut. It's got us this far. Something about this seems wrong. He may not be able to handle it. We could put him through more pain than he is already in."

Michael looked about him. " What do you mean?" he asked.

" Well think about it. There's a very real possibility that his system could reject your blood. And if that happens, then he'll die anyway. Or worse, he may not be able to handle being a hybrid. He may not have as much self-control as you do. He could destroy himself." Selene reasoned.

Michael looked at her. " Well there's got to be something we can do."

" Michael…" came Frost's hoarse voice.

Michael walked over. " What is it?"

Frost looked at Michael in a terribly pitying way. But then he took a deep breath and tried to be strong. " Michael, it's just my time. You've got to accept that. You've got to be strong and accept that."

Michael's figure slumped as he held back tears.

" Hey, listen. I'm just glad that I got to go out fighting. I always wanted it that way. If I was ever going to die, I wanted to die for the protection of my pack, and that's what I did. Now listen up, I want to be cremated, got it? That whole dust in the wind kind of thing, that always seemed to suit me best. You got that?" Frost said.

Michael nodded.

" Thank you so much, Michael, for giving us lycans a reason to live…oh and Selene?"

Selene walked over and stood next to Frost's bed. " Yes?"

" Take care of this guy for me, okay? You too, Aubrey and Ravyn. Watch out for each other. Promise?" Frost asked.

" Promise." They all said in unison.

" Good." Frost smiled. Now he laid his head back and his eyes got far away. " Now if you'll all excuse me, I've kept Sara waiting long enough…"

And just like that, Frost was gone. He closed his eyes, and his last breath escaped into the air.

Michael dropped the syringe to the ground, his blood splashing everywhere.

In the full light of the moon, the four of them stood outside, standing on a hill far from the den, looking over the city. They said their last words. Silently and sullenly, as Michael held the container that held Frost's ashes, Selene walked up to him. She took a handful of the ashes and slowly let them cascade out of her hand, being caught by the winds and whisking away. Aubrey and Ravyn mimicked her. Finally it was Michael's turn. He looked up to the moon.

" Keep him safe…" Michael whispered as he looked up to the bright orb in the sky. It was halfway full. Then he emptied the container into the air, as Frost, his ashes and his spirit went flying with the wind.

Selene closed her eyes in silent prayer for Frost's journey. Another casualty in this pointless war. She looked at Michael with the utmost sympathy. She knew what it was like to loose a friend in this immortal life. They stood there looking at each other for a few moments. So much was being said between them without every actually being spoken aloud. Then, the moment was gone.

Selene watched as Michael looked out one last time over the city. Selene knew that he was not only saying goodbye to Frost, but for the mortal life he left behind. He was finally ready to let it go. He was no longer Michael, the loner intern who lived solely for his job as a doctor. Now he was Michael, the hybrid, the messiah, the prophet of the lycans, loyal to them as they to he. He was ready to except his role now.

Under the half moon light, Michael shed his human skin. He had mastered his change by now. His muscles stretched and his bones cracked as he grew into the divine creature he was. Selene looked at him with pride. She helped create this beautiful creature that stood before her. It was a part of her that made him what he was.

Aubrey also looked upon his leader with pride. He was the sole carrier of Lucian's memories. He was the prophet who would lead the lycans to a better world. He was the messiah the lycans had waited for.

Michael, in his hybrid form, belted out a half roaring, half howling kind of moan that stretched eerily across the whole city. Selene realized it. Michael was calling Marcus out. He was stating his challenge, asserting himself as the only alpha male of this city.

Selene jumped a bit when she heard the howling of a lycan behind her. She turned around to see that Aubrey had also taken his natural lupine form, and was joining Michael in his song. Again she had this feeling of being out of place. She felt lonely, not being able to join in on the call. Somewhere behind her she heard more lycans howl. She wanted to be able to do that. She felt somewhat obsolete. She hung her head and took a step back. She was turning away when she felt a clawed hand grab her shoulder. She turned back to see her hybrid hero pulling her back over to his side. He wrapped his furry and muscular arm around her waste, holding her close as he continued his challenge.

The pride rushed back into Selene as she looked at him. She smiled and nodded to herself. _We can win this._

" I found it!" Aubrey shouted.

Ravyn, Selene, and Raze looked up from their books. They were in the library, and had been ever since that morning.

" You did?" Ravyn asked.

" Hell yes I did! Look!"

The three of them walked over to Aubrey's table. They each had their own, and his was a chaotic mess of books, just like their own. He pointed to a picture in his old book. The pages had a yellowish tint, the binding had been singed off, and the actual binding, with help from a rubber band, was just barely keeping the book together.

Selene leaned over his shoulder and read the inscription next to the picture.

" The Triquatra Sol. Originally crafted in Ireland, this Celtic piece was said to ward off vampires. It was said to have been enchanted by gypsies. They made it the embodiment of the sun, to protect villagers at night, when the sun could not. It was said to have burned all those with a vampiric trait who touched it. Lucian used it in the epic battle between vampires and lycans, but it was stolen from him along with his branded skin and his supposed life. The present residence of this sign is thus far unknown. Be warned, for when this ancient power is invoked, vary little can stand in its wake and live to tell about it." She read aloud. Then she looked at the picture. It was a sun with four triquatras inside it in a circle. In the very center of each triquatra, there was a crimson stone. Selene narrowed her eyes. " Why does that look so familiar?"

" Maybe you've seen it before in the mansion?" Raze asked.

" Well, this thing sounds like it could definitely give us an upper hand." Aubrey said.

Selene searched her memory. She new she had seen it somewhere before, she just couldn't remember where. Then it hit her. " Of course."

" What?" Ravyn asked.

Selene looked at the three. " Well, there's good news, bad news, and worse news."

Aubrey looked her. " Good news?"

" I know where it is."

" Bad news?" Raze asked.

" Its in the crypt in the vampire mansion."

" Worse news?" Ravyn asked.

" It's protected by a safe that will automatically explode if the codes aren't synchronized just right."

Aubrey faked a laugh. " Is that all?"

Michael rubbed his temples. This was all coming at him so fast. " So, let me get this straight. You want to spring a sneak attack on the vampires, on their turf?"

" They'll never expect it!" Aubrey said.

" Maybe because that's completely idiotic! They'll have the advantage!" Ravyn said.

Aubrey shook his head. " Here's how it rolls. We'll surprise the vamps at their mansion. We'll jump in and attack full on from all sides. They'll have nowhere to run! But the attack itself will only be a distraction. You, Selene, Ravyn, and I will sneak into the crypt while everyone else is occupied with the attack. We'll get the Triquatra Sol and use it on Marcus and the Death Dealers."

Michael looked very hesitant.

" But there is one catch." Selene interrupted as she walked in the room holding the same book. She placed it down carefully as she turned the page. On the next page was another sketch, similar to the first, only different. This one was of a pendant like the Triquatra Sol, but instead it was of three crescent moons with their backs touching each other and in the center was a dark blue stone. Selene pointed at it. " According to this inscription, whoever whishes to use the Triquatra Sol, must also have the Luna Triple Crescent to balance it out."

" Balance it out?" Aubrey asked, now very confused.

" Yes. The Triquatra was made to ward off vampires in Ireland, the land of the wolf. At the same point in time, the Luna Triple Crescent was being made to ward off wolves in Romania, or Transylvania specifically. As the Triquatra invokes the power of the sun against vampires, the Triple Crescent invokes the power of the moon against lycans."

" But the moon only reverts us to our werewolf form, making us stronger. How is that bad?" Aubrey asked.

Selene shook her head. " Only the full moon has that power. The crescent moon does not. So in turn, this pendent would revert all werewolves back to their lycan state, forbidding you from making the change. These two pendants fit uniquely with each other. Once together, the immortal wearing them has an ancient and supreme power. A power to great for any vampire or lycan to handle."

" Then how can we use it?" Michael asked.

" It wasn't very clear, but the inscription states something along the lines of, and I quote," Selene explained as she picked up the book, reading from its page, " ' Only the Messiah of immortal lore, the one who is both bat and wolf can harbor the ancient power of the pendants together, and the earth will shake as fire rains from the sky, and the Underworld itself will be at the mercy of the Hybrid.'"

As she finished, they all looked to Michael, who was sitting in a chair, stunned from what he just heard.

A/N: I know, I know, a lot of information to take in. I'm hoping to have pictures of the Triquatra and Triple Crescent to show you soon. Please read and review. I'm expecting four or five more chapters after this. Thank you all.

Ravyn

P.S: Sorry for the short chapter. I just felt like it should end there, plus, dinner's here. Lol. Later!


	22. Author's Note: THE SEQUAL

Hello all.

If you only knew the problems I've been having. It's a long chain of events that ultimately led to the close call of my life's end. That's a fancy way for saying teenage melodrama with actual drama mixed in. Anyway, now I'm FINALLY on spring break (WOOT!) and will be until Tuesday, April 18th. So I hope to have the story wrapped up by then. I refuse to let myself work on anything that isn't this story or school work until this is done. I've dragged this out long enough and its finally time to bring it home.

I want to say thank you to all who have stuck with me so far, and a special shout out to Jenni P who sent me an email asking me to get my ass in gear. Thank you all very much for being a great audience and helping me so much in your wonderful reviews. I'm hoping, once I'm done with this, to go back and re-edit the early chapters of this story. But I think as it is right now, you can really see all the changes and improvements I've gone through since starting this story three years ago. And it's all because of you wonderful people who take the time to comment on my work. Three years, can you believe it? Oh my, where has the time gone? Well, I'll save all my closing words for one more Authors Note right before the last chapter.

Again, thank you all, and I hope to be done by the end of spring break. (I shudder to even think of spring break ending, not because I don't want to finish the story, but simply because I don't want to go back to school. Haha.)

See you all in the next chapters.

Until then,

Ravyn

(AKA BloodOfEden)


	23. A plan?

"So…this prophecy is talking about me?" Michael asked.

Aubrey shrugged. "Unless there's another hybrid out there that's a messiah to the lycans."

"So we're positive the prophecy isn't talking about Marcus?"

Selene shook her head. "It isn't likely. The prophecy says the messiah to the lycans. To the lycans, Marcus is more like a pariah to us, rather than our savior."

Aubrey smiled to himself at Selene's use of the terms "us" and "our." He was glad to see that she had finally grouped herself in with the lycans, and that they were no longer "them" or "their."

Michael narrowed his eyes. He took the book gently from Selene's hands, to make sure it wouldn't fall apart. He looked down at the writing, not that the foreign lettering made much sense to him anyway. "What's this about "the earth will shake and fire will fall from the sky"?"

Selene shrugged. "Not sure. But at least now we'll now that the epic moment is upon us when it happens."

Again Michael looked down to the book. Then he handed it back over to Selene. "I don't suppose it says anything about who wins, does it?"

She shook her head. "They rarely do. Unless it is fated that one side wins and the other falls, it's really up us. Prophets usually don't take such big risks as to say how the event in question will turn out. Present events change the future."

There was a long silence, with Michael processing all this new information. Never in his wildest dreams could he have ever imagined he'd be here, like this today. He never even thought about vampires and werewolves when he was a kid. But now that he thought back on it, he always remembered himself looking up to the moon. He wondered why he was here now. What on this earth had possessed him to risk his entire life for these strangers who hardly knew him, for this new reality he could have kept on living without. He closed his eyes and tried to think. _Why am I here?_ Icy blue eyes flashed across his memory. Icy blue eyes, ivory white skin, raven black hair, ah yes, now he remembered. He opened his eyes and looked at Selene. She was why he was here. He gave up everything in his life, everything he knew, for this woman who had captured his heart with one glance in a subway station. He would die for her. He was here because he loved her.

_And she loves me._

And suddenly he thought about the future. If they both survived this, they could go on and have a life together. They might even be able to have a family one-day. If they both got through this, they could be happy, together. And that was worth everything Michael had to offer.

He took a deep breath and straightened up. "Okay. So what if we amend Aubrey's attack plan? We'll being in more lycans. If Marcus is too scared to come to us, we'll bring the fight to him. Or better yet, we can have him and his forces meet on neutral ground, while we sneak into the mansion and get the pendants. We'll go to the battlefield and take Marcus and the covenant down. Then, any vampire who can't handle a hybrid as their ruler will be taken as a prisoner. Any other suggestions?"

No answers came from the group.

Michael nodded. "Now only it was as simple as it sounded." He shook his head. "Okay Aubrey, is there anywhere left that will give us extra forces?"

"I'm going to assume that Marcus has called in the other two covens by now. They'll have at least 50,000 vampires fighting for them." Selene chimed in.

Aubrey scanned his brain for a moment before nodding. "I've got friends in high places. I'll send a call over to England, Ireland, Russia, and America. But keep in mind you'll be dealing with a lot of different personalities, Mike."

Michael raised an eyebrow. "How different?"

"Well, each region has got a different kind of lycan that adapted to it. English lycans are very small and lean and compared to a normal lycan, they're easier to take done in their lupine form. They'll probably do the majority of the gun handling for us. Ireland, being the land of the wolf, has lycans equipped for every situation. They can handle a gun as well as change and take someone down in lupine form. Russian lycans are brutes. They're more up there on the strength and brutish side of things, very compact and muscular wolves. American lycans are probably best known for their brains rather than brawn. They make up in smarts what they lack in muscle. They are probably the most strategic out of all of us. They get kind of annoyed with the Russian lycans. None of them really like the English wolves because they prefer their human forms, and they all kind of envy the Irish lycans because they seem to have all of the good traits. And the Irish wolves are kind of on a standoff with the English ones because of the civil war thing."

Michael sighed. It must have been the hundredth one tonight. "Well hopefully they'll unite under a common cause. Contact their leaders and tell them I need to talk to them."

Aubrey nodded. "Right on it, boss." He walked out of the room, Ravyn following him.

Raze looked to Michael. He nodded, then bowed his head to Selene, and then walked out.

Michael fell back down into his chair, his head falling into his hands.

Selene smiled tiredly at him. She kneeled down and placed her hand on his back. "Hey," she said with softness in her voice that even surprised her. "You okay?"

Michael picked his head up and looked at her. He smiled at her newfound caring and nodded his head. "Yeah. It's just… this gets a little overwhelming sometimes when I stop and think about it.

She nodded her head. "It was like that for me too. Those first couple of months after I was changed I couldn't believe what was happening to me, what I had become. It seemed so new and it terrified me. I saw things I could before only think about in my wildest dreams. But you should see how these lycans react to you Michael. They love you for trying to save them. Whether you can grasp it now or not, you really are their hero."

He nodded taking her words in.

Selene gave him a small smile. "You're my hero too."

He narrowed his eyes and looked at her.

"I've been thinking about it recently, what with everything that's been happening. I realized that I feel more like myself when I'm with you than when I'm with me. If you hadn't been here for me Michael, I would be dead by now. Before I was just a machine for destroying. When I'm with you, I realize that I'm more than that. I'm a woman. I was on a path for self-destruction, and then I met you. You showed me the truth about everything. You saved me. You're my hero, Michael." Selene's eyes welled up a little bit. Michael smiled at her. He pulled her to him and held her protectively in his arms. It was nice to feel needed.

They held each other in a comfortable embrace for a while, before Michael noticed that she felt different. He tore himself far enough away so he could look at her face.

She narrowed her eyes. "What?"

"You…I don't know…I guess, you feel different. You're warmer. You look flushed. Are you alright?" Michael had grown accustomed to Selene's deathly cold skin. This new warmth, while being a pleasant surprise, had him a little alarmed.

She shrugged. "I've been getting head rushes and heat flashes for the past couple of days. I don't know what it is…"

"Maybe you're coming down with something?"

"Vampires don't get sick, Michael. It's physically impossible."

"Having a vampire-lycan hybrid is physically impossible. But I'm here aren't I?"

Selene looked at him. _Point taken._

"Maybe you should have Raze take some of your blood to check out?"

"I'm fine Michael. It's just a little spell."

"Vampires don't get sick, Selene. It's physically impossible." He quoted, smirking.

Selene slapped him on the arm playfully.

He smiled, but then turned slightly more serious. "Please just have Raze check it out? For me?"

Selene sighed and rested her head on Michael's shoulder. "Okay, okay, if it will make you feel better."

He smiled again, resting his chin on her head. "It will, thank you."

Aubrey slammed the phone down on his desk. "We got England, Russia, and America."

Michael stopped his pacing and faced Aubrey, nodding his head. "That's good, what about Ireland?"

Aubrey shrugged. "They're still iffy about coming. They're not certain they want to take part in this."

Michael shook his head. "But we need them. We can't possibly have enough without them."

"I know that Michael, but Connor is wary about relinquishing his rule to someone he's never even met."

"Connor, that's the leader?"

Aubrey nodded.

Michael sighed. "Get back into contact with him. Tell him our situation, guilt him into it, I don't care. If he still refuses let me talk to him. Got it?"

Aubrey nodded and picked the phone back up again.

Michael walked out of the office and walked through the common room in search of Selene. He was pointed in direction to the room where the children took to hanging out. He scanned the place and saw her standing by the wall watching the kids play pretend games with each other. She seemed to be watching Damian out of all of them. A smile crept across his face. She really took to that little kid.

He walked over to where she stood. "Hey."

She didn't take her eyes off of Damian. "This is really it isn't it?"

He narrowed his eyes. "What?"

"This war is really happening now isn't it? Once the other lycans come here we're going to go to war with Marcus for the last time, and there won't be any turning back. Either we win and start to rebuild the Underworld, or we loose everything and Marcus rises to power to ultimately destroy both worlds. What if it doesn't work out like we would hope, Michael? What if he wins? What if these kids never have a future to look forward to?"

Michael shook his head. "I don't know Selene. I mean, I wish I could say that this will all turn out the way we want it to, but I can't. But I can say that I will fight for this with everything I have inside of me."

Selene bowed her head and closed her eyes. "But that's not all. What if…" She took a deep breath to steady herself. She thought it over in her mind, and then shook her head. She gave a weak smile. "Never mind…"

Michael dipped his head to try and make eye contact. "What?"

She shook her head again. "Never mind. It's just…it's nothing."

Selene drew her eyes back over to Damian. He was in a sparing match with another kid a few years older than him, who was also bigger and stronger. But Damian was using his smaller size to his advantage. He weaved in and out of the older lycan's legs, making him frustrated and angry. While he was getting angry, he was also making mistakes. He was exposing his back to Damian, showing off his weaker points. In and instant of weakness, Damian had him pinned to the ground. He arched his neck and let out a low growl of victory, showing off his pearly white elongated canines. The color of his iris's changed from a deep brown to an unearthly cobalt blue and the muscles shifted beneath his skin. But just as fast as it had come, the moment passed, and he was Damian again. He got to his feet, and then helped the other boy to his feet. Damian patted his shoulder. The other lycan children watched in awe. They knew it as well as did Michael and Selene. They had just seen a glimpse of a future alpha.

"He's going to be great someday…" Michael mused as the children went back to their playing. He turned back to Selene. "Let's give him that chance, huh?"

Selene smiled and nodded. _Here we go._

Michael rubbed his temples while he was sitting at his desk. Connor was not giving in easily.

"Connor please. You have to understand that this battle means the difference between a world of free lycans and dead ones." He tried to reason.

"Yes, Michael, I understand that. But this pack trusts me; they put their faith in me. I can't just hand over their lives on a silver platter to a leader they've never even known existed. I have a responsibility to them. I can't just send them off to be killed by the vampires. I've finally got this place under control. I can't ruin that with such an uncertainty as this poorly planned attack." Came the throaty voice of the Irish lycan leader over the speakerphone. His Irish accent was thick enough so that you could tell right off the bat that he was Irish, but not so thick that it was a challenge to understand what he was saying.

"It's not poorly planned. I understand you have a responsibility to your own pack but you also have a responsibility to every other lycan in this world, you have a responsibility to Aubrey, and I know that you aren't familiar with this, but like it or not you have a responsibility to me. Now I am asking you to help us take down this threat once and for all. We could loose this whole thing because you refused to help. I know that you would do this for Lucian. Please, help me honor his memory. We can do this. We can win this, but not without your help. Please Connor, help me save these people."

There was silence across the line for a long moment. Then, "How is it Michael, that in a matter of such a short time, you have come to love these people as your own?"

Michael was taken off guard by the question, but he answered with honesty. "These people are my own people, and I will fight to the death to make sure that they can have their lives back. It's not a matter of me adopting a new life, but this is the life I was destined for. I can't go back to the way I was, and quite frankly, I don't want to. And now these people need me and I'm here to answer their call. You say that you have a responsibility to your pack, but where are you when your own people need your help? You can't just sit by and pretend this isn't happening. Now, we're going to do this with or without you. With could bring us to victory even easier. With could bring a great future even closer to the present. Without…well, without could be the fall of the lycans. That's your choice. Thank you for giving us your time, Connor. Goodbye."

Michael pressed the 'end' button on the cradle and sighed to himself. He got out of his chair and walked out into Aubrey's new office, where he, Ravyn, Selene, and Raze waited expectantly.

Michael gave them a shrug. "So here's what we've got so far. Russia, America, and England have agreed on an alliance with each other to help us out. That give us, what, about half of the lycans we need?"

At Aubrey's nod, Michael continued. "We're going to spring an attack with a few hundred lycans onto the mansion. Once the vampires go onto attack, we're going to draw their forces away from the mansion onto neutral ground and raise all hell. Guerilla warfare. We're going to use anything we have on them. We'll spring attack everywhere, hiding in the trees on the hills. We're going to lead them to where the rest of our forces will be waiting. We'll set it up so that the vampires will be fighting uphill and all we'll have to do is run down the hill knocking them down like bowling pins. While that's going on, Me, Jared, and you three will be making our way to the mansion. We'll break in with as little noise as possible. It won't take Marcus long to realize we're not at the battlefield. Breaking into the crypt will take some work and our presence will probably be noticed by then. After we break in, we only have so long before they catch us. We'll put the pendants together and hope that it all works."

There was an uneasy silence. The likelihood that this was all going to go according to plan was very low.

Aubrey cleared his throat. "Russia and England will be here tomorrow, America will be here the day after."

Michael nodded. "Okay. So basically we have two days until this all goes down?"

"Basically."

"Okay. So let's go out and talk to what's left of this pack. We'll tell them what's going on and give them the choice to stay or not."

The lycans were finally quiet as they watched their leader standing on a ledge before them. Michael cleared his throat. He had never really been one fore speeches. Before all this, he was very anti-social. But when he needed it, words came to him like magic. It only happened when he was speaking from the heart.

"Well, everybody. The time is finally coming closer. I'm not going to give you my final words. I'll save that for when we actually go into battle. For these past two days we have been getting together to ask for reinforcements. As we speak right now, Russian, American, English, and maybe even Irish lycans are moving over here to help us with this war." He went on to explain the run-through of what was to happen in two days time. The pack before them seemed stunned, but there were no objections yet. Michael took a breath. "So that gives us two days of grace time. Two days to do whatever we like before we go to this war. I'm not going to tell you what to do with this time. I just ask that by sunset of the second day, all those here who wish to fight Marcus and the vampires to get their lives, revenge, redemption, or what have you back, be here and march to the hill with us. Thank you."

Michael stepped down and left the lycans to their thoughts.

Aubrey walked up to him and patted him on the shoulder. "Ravyn and I are staying here. As is Raze and Jared. We're not leaving."

Michael smiled at him. "Good to hear. Have you seen Selene?"

Aubrey nodded. "Yeah, I think she and Ravyn were heading to your room with Damian. That kid's really got the makings of a great leader, you know. I know I've said that before, but I just can't help but say it again. He reminds me of me when I was younger."

Michael smiled. He patted Aubrey's shoulder before walking away to the room he and Selene now shared. He came up on it and heard happy giggling from inside. He knocked out of respect.

"Password!" came a young voice, most likely Damian.

Michael smiled, remembering the one from before. "New England Clam Chowder."

"Red or white?" came Ravyn's voice.

"Red."

"Enter!"

The door opened and Michael walked in. He shook his head. "It's kind of sad that I have to say a password to get into my own room isn't it?"

Damian ran up and hugged Michael. "Michael, do I get to come with you to fight?"

Michael looked at Selene, who shrugged. He looked down at the eager young lycan. "I don't think so Damian, not this time."

The disappointment on Damian's face was evident. Michael kneeled down and looked the boy in the face. "But you have an equally important job. Damian."

The excitement was back again. "Really? What!"

"You get to look after the other kids here in the den. You have to keep them safe for me, okay?"

"Okay Michael!"

Ravyn smiled and took the kid by the hand. "Why don't you and I go down and scar Aubrey out of his wits?"

"Okay! Bye Selene, bye Michael!"

"Bye." Selene and Michael said in unison.

When he was gone, they turned to each other. "So…" Michael sighed.

"So." Selene replied.


	24. Midnight Stroll to the Past

Michael looked at Selene from where he sat in the chair across the room. "Did you get Raze to test your blood yet?"

"He took some today while you were talking to the pack. He said it would take him some time to get to it."

"Did he think there was anything wrong?"

Selene shrugged. "He was concerned about how flushed I am and my dizziness, but he didn't really have time to look into it. I'm fine Michael, really."

He wondered if she knew how unconvincing she sounded. He was unused to this humanity that now surrounded her. He was so happy, though, that she finally let her walls down around him. She finally let him in. It gave him somewhat of an energy boost. He smiled. "So…" he said as he got up and walked over to the bed. He sat down next to her. "We have two days all to ourselves. What do you want to do?"

Selene looked at him. She had no idea. That was like asking her what she wanted for her last meal. She thought for a moment. "Want to go for a walk?"

He narrowed his eyes for a moment, but then nodded. "Sure."

* * *

The moon shown down brightly on the land below, it was almost completely full. Everything below had a silvery glow under its luminescent glow. Michael and Selene walked silently through the countryside together, in stride with each other. The lights of the city were long behind them as they covered ground with no apparent purpose or destination.

Michael looked at her. She looked even more beautiful in the moonlight. It saturated her pale skin and gave glow to her eyes. He sighed to himself contently. _Yeah, that's right. I'm with her._ He couldn't help but say to himself.

Selene broke the silence. Normally she would have been happy to keep things quiet between her and Michael, but right now, it just didn't fit. It was deafening to her. She had been stuck in silence with herself for so long, she didn't want to stay quiet anymore.

"You know, besides the expanding of the city, the land hasn't changed much in all the centuries we've been here." She said to her companion, her lover.

"Did you grow up far from here?"

She shook her head. "No. Infact we're not far from the house now. Our property was very big. My father was a wealthy man back in those days. He had the best-bred horses around. The city was so small back then. It wasn't even a city, not by today's standard at least. It was a large village with lots of stores. It was highly urbanized for our time. But my father refused to move us there. He said that my sister, brother, and I would grow up knowing what it was like to breathe fresh air. As we were growing up, the village got bigger and bigger. My father resented it, but I found it interesting. All those people living in such a small space, it was something completely new to me. But I'm glad my father kept us out in the country. It turned out a lot of things I learned as a child helped me with my death dealer training."

Michael took it in. He knew they should probably get off the topic of Selene's family being slaughtered and everything else leading to Viktor. He decided to stay neutral. "What were you like as a kid?"

Selene smiled at the bittersweet memory. "I was out of control. I was always wondering around without my parent's permission. I would sneak off with my brother and we would run around everywhere, always exploring. My father always scolded me for it. He said it wasn't lady-like. He said I should be more like my sister. But it never bothered me much. He would yell at me, and then I'd go out and do it again. I had more friends who were boys than I did girls. I was constantly dirty. My mother always hated having to give me baths. I didn't like having to contain myself just to fit an image that was set for me. I loved climbing trees, riding the horses, and playing pretend games with my brother."

Michael smiled. He imagined Selene as a little girl running through these same woods they were walking through now. He noticed that they had fallen on a path. It was worn, but it looked as if it had been unused for quite a while. There was enough of a definite path, but there were also dead leaves covering it and shrubs over growing around it. They walked for a minute longer before the trees gave way to a clearing. There were open fields laid before them, and an old house that stood stoically against the night sky. It hadn't been used in decades, maybe even centuries just by the look of it. Michael was impressed as to how it was still standing. It seemed like every time the wind blew it creaked and looked as if it would fall over. But it still stood strong, rebelling against the weather and the ages.

Selene had stopped now and was taking it in. The house, along with the rest of the property and terrain, possessed the silver lining of the moon. She looked upon the place of her past, letting the memories come back to her.

"As I grew older into my teen years, I came upon myself. I calmed down considerably, much to my parents relief. I came to the "lady-like" form that was expected of me. I stopped going on my adventures with my brother, and instead I would go outside to read or draw. But I still loved going out, and when he could convince me, my brother would take me out for hikes across the land." Selene smiled to herself. "Adam…" she said with a sigh. "He and I always got along more than he and Elizabeth, or Elizabeth and I, for that matter. She thought the same as my father, that I should act tamer like she was. But she was also envious of me that I had so many friends that were boys. But I was "getting better" in their eyes. I traded my pants I stole from my brother for the skirts and dresses that were expected of me."

Selene led Michael in a steady spiral around the clearing. She was clearly putting off going to the house for as long as possible.

"Later on in life, Elizabeth met her future husband, Jacob. Their love seemed like something out the romance novels I had read. They were so happy. I had never been envious of her for anything, until she fell in love. It's not that I wanted to steal Jacob from her, but I just wanted to know the kind of love they shared. I had only been in love once before that, but nothing ever happened. A year later they were married, a year after that Elizabeth told me she was pregnant, a year after that I was an aunt to two beautiful little girls. They were a spitting image of my sister. They shared her beautiful brown hair and her deep brown eyes, her wonderful rosy skin. She was an image of beauty, just like my mother was. I was awkwardly tall with very pale skin. I couldn't go out into the sun without burning up. I always had to stay in the shade, always had to have an umbrella. I had an athlete's body where as they were petite and fragile. But after a while I stopped comparing myself to them. So the twins grew up and I became that wonderful aunt. The one who spoils you and lets you get away with everything. And for a while, everything was great. And then Viktor set his sights on our farm, our quiet little peaceful version of a blissful reality. And we both know how that turned out."

Almost as if on cue, they came by the front of the house, where an ugly blood spot had seeped into the stone steps leading up to the porch. Michael winced at the sheer enormity of it. There had to have been at least nine pints of dried blood there. The normal human body can only hold eight to ten pints of blood. He remembered back to Selene's words that night in the safe house. _"My father died outside, trying to fend them off."_ This must have been where her father bled out. It made him want to throw up. Viktor didn't even kill her father for the blood; he did it for the sheer thrill of the slaughter. Before he could loose himself and hurl though, Selene took him by the hand and led him away. They walked through the fields to a hill where the slope curved enough so that you could lie back and look at the moon. She sat down on the ground and laid back and looked up at the moon.

"This was my favorite place. I would spend so many nights out here. That night I couldn't sleep. I thought about coming out here to lie down. If I had I would have missed the whole thing. But I was stubborn. I stayed in bed and tried to get myself to sleep. Eventually it worked. I was only out for an hour before I heard the screams. I was always unsure if I would have been better off coming out here and missing the whole thing." She paused and looked to Michael, who was still standing. "I'm pretty sure it was worth it now." She smiled at him, reaching out for his hand.

He smiled down at her. He took her hand in his and lay down next to her.

She took in a steadying breath. She felt at peace now. Normally talking about her past was shattering to herself, to her mind and memories. But it felt good to share herself with Michael. It felt good to know he was listening.

Selene now looked about Michael, whose blue eyes held an eerie tint in the moonlight. "What about you, Michael?"

He looked to her. "What about me?"

She smiled at him. "What were you like when you were a child?"

He smiled back. "I was a quiet kid. I was kind of shy and I didn't really allow myself to have friends. I was actually pretty anti-social. I preferred to stay inside while my brothers went out and played. I would be reading a book or watching TV. But I was definitely smarter than the both of them put together. The only time I ever really allowed myself to have fun outside was when I was out here with my uncle over summer vacation. We'd go hunting and fishing and outdoors, manly things like that. Fishing I could handle, seeing as how I never caught anything. I never really liked the hunting though. I didn't like taking away an innocent creature's life when it did nothing wrong, as cheesy as that sounds. My father always thought there was something wrong with me because I never acted like my brothers. Needless to say I was the butt of many jokes. But luckily, my mom was much more accepting of me. I loved my mom. She was so beautiful, so full of light and happy energy. She died when I was sixteen from breast cancer. She was fighter though. She didn't go without giving it all she had. My brothers all gravitated away from home after high school. Daniel moved out to Los Angeles to become a cop, Gabriel joined the US Army, and I went to medical school for a while. Then I met Samantha, and well, you know what happened from there."

Selene mentally winced as she remembered the story Michael had told her about the woman she had seen in the pictures of his apartment. She decided to change the subject. "What were your brothers like?"

Michael shrugged. "They were both the polar opposite of me. They were your typical all-American boys who grew up to be your typical all-American teenagers. Daniel, we could tell, was always destined to be a city boy. There was no doubting it. I just always thought it would be New York City. He was a very adventurous kid. It almost killed him once. He was ever the stud, though. He went through girlfriends like toilet paper. He brought a new girl home every week. Eventually I got tired of remembering their names. In high school he was a jock if I ever saw one. He had soccer in the fall, track in the winter, and baseball in the spring. Everyone loved him. His friend got in a car crash when a drunk driver hit his car. That really woke him up to the world. His friend died, and Daniel committed himself to practicing criminal justice for revenge for his friend. So after high school he went out to California to study criminal justice and became an LA cop. I actually think he got moved up to SWAT last year.

"Gabriel was probably Daniel's better half. He was broader, taller, older, and stronger. They were always butting heads with each other while I just kind of hung back and watched. Gabriel found his high school sweetheart in freshman year. They got married three years ago and have three kids. It was like he was born to be prom king, so it was no surprise that he was the most popular guy in school. He was a major football star, but when the fall season was over he took up wrestling in the winter. Varsity didn't even cover it. He was way better. He was pretty smart too. I never understood why he decided to go into the Army with all of his potential. Last I heard he was coming home from Iraq."

Selene listened with interest. Michael a quiet and shy kid? Yeah, she could definitely see that. But if you compare that with the hybrid leader she was looking at right now, and there was a definite difference. _Oh yeah. I guess Lucian and I had a lot to do with that._ She couldn't stop herself from thinking about Michael's life if he had never had this destiny. "What do you think you'd be doing right now if this had never happened to you?" she asked before she could stop herself.

He looked at her and sighed. "I'd probably be at the hospital trying to do what ever I could to save someone's life. Or I'd be at my rat hole apartment staring at my ceiling, trying to sleep, and wondering what the hell I was doing." Michael took Selene's hand gently in his own. "I'd be miserable." He kissed her knuckles lightly. "I'm glad I'm here with you now, Selene."

She hesitated for speaking. She was glad too, wasn't she? _Yes, I'm glad he's here, but I'm not glad this had to happen to him._ Instead of speaking, Selene leaned over and pressed her lips to Michael's. A gentle kiss, full of love and understanding, one that he returned.

They pulled apart and just lay under the moon for a while, fingers entwined.

A while passed, and Michael couldn't keep the question at bay any longer. "Selene, what about my brothers? Sooner or later they'll realize I've disappeared from the face of the earth. What if they start looking?"

Selene bit her lower lip. "They won't find anything, Michael. Your apartment's been cleared out, your job's been taken over by another intern, and you had no friends here…"

"But Gabriel has a high standing with the army, what if he finds something?"

Selene shook her head. "He won't. You're a ghost Michael. Just a ghost. Like me. Like all of us."

Michael became silent again. He tried to deal with the reality of it all. There really was no going back. Not that he wanted to. He had friends who had mad a family around him, and he had people who depended on him. That's more than anyone could say back home. And he had the woman he loved. He had Selene. He had all he needed. But it was still hard. "I didn't even get to say goodbye…"

Selene nodded in understanding. "Well, if it's any consolation, neither did I."

Michael looked at her. He thanked whatever force in the world it was that sent him Selene to the subway station that night. He wasn't sure he could get through this without her, or if without her he'd even still be alive. He doubted it.

"Selene?" he asked.

"Hmm?" she replied, soaking up the moonlight with her eyes closed.

"Do you think we can go visit Gabriel before we go plunging into this war with Marcus? He was always cared for me."

Selene opened her eyes and looked at Michael hard. "Michael, you can't-"

He cut her off. "I won't say anything about what's happened, happening, or going to happen. I just, I just want to see him. I want him to know that I'll be okay."

Selene looked at him, very unsure.

"Please Selene? Wouldn't you want to say goodbye if you knew you could?"

Okay, he had her there. But she wasn't sure he understood how risky this entire idea was. This was practically begging the world to know their secret, practically inviting the humans to find out exactly what goes bump in the night. "Michael, I don't know…"

"Please Selene? I need this." He looked at her, almost pleadingly

_I would want to say goodbye too._ She sighed. She pulled out her cell phone and hit a number on speed dial. She waited for the ringing to cease and a voice to answer.

"Yo?" came Aubrey's voice.

"It's Selene."

"What's up?"

"Can you arrange for a chopper to take Michael and I over to America?"

Michael smiled and mouthed a thank you, kissing Selene's free hand.

"To where exactly?" Aubrey sounded interested, but he didn't ask why.

Selene looked to Michael. "To where exactly?"

"They moved to New Jersey." Michael replied.

"New Jersey." Selene echoed into the phone.

"It'll be here by the time you guys get back." Aubrey said, sounding distracted now.

"Thanks. See you soon." Selene closed the phone and slipped it pack into the pocket of her trench coat. She looked to Michael. "Let's go."

Michael smiled and kissed Selene passionately. "Thank you, so much. You have no idea how much this means to me."

He got to his feet and pulled Selene to hers. He started away, but Selene turned and looked back to look at what used to be her home. She cast a glance to the almost full moon and sighed. This had every possibility of going horribly wrong. "You're welcome." She mumbled as she turned away and followed Michael back to the den.


End file.
